Entertainment

Robobunny becomes first celebrity revealed during Masked Singer final

Mushroom and Panda remain in the running.
Mushroom and Panda remain in the running. Mushroom and Panda remain in the running.

Markus Feehily has become the first celebrity to have their identity revealed during The Masked Singer final.

The Westlife star, 41, was unmasked as Robobunny after losing out in the first public vote of the night.

The celebrity panel’s guesses included Charlie Simpson from Busted, Ronan Keating from Boyzone and even the Duke of Sussex.

After being unmasked, he said: “Being hidden inside the costume gave me a chance to forget about what I look like for the first time in my career. I have always struggled with self-esteem and self-image and thankfully more recently have stopped caring as much.

“But it was a huge relief to be able to cast off all the rules and just let my voice fly in a different direction and mostly have fun.

“Westlife songs are so sincere, which is lovely, but I have a wild side to my voice, a side to it that doesn’t want to be harnessed, so it was lovely to be able to just go mad with the bunny.”

Mushroom and Panda remain in the running to be crowned champion of the ITV show’s third series.

The surreal show, which is presented by comedian Joel Dommett, sees famous contestants disguised in elaborate costumes sing in front of a celebrity panel who have to guess their true identity.

Saturday’s show saw Panda deliver a sassy performance of Blank Space by Taylor Swift, while Robobunny impressed with an impassioned and dramatic rendition of Run by Snow Patrol.

Mushroom then took to the stage and surprised the panel with a performance of the classical piece Flower Duet from Leo Delibes’ opera Lakme.

Three former contestants from previous series – Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts as Queen Bee, comedian Jason Manford as Hedgehog and JLS member Aston Merrygold as Robin – also returned to duet with the finalists ahead of the first elimination.

Regular panelists Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall and Mo Gilligan were joined by special guest singer Joss Stone, who won the second series performing as Sausage.

During last weekend’s semi-final, Destiny’s Child star Michelle Williams was revealed as Rockhopper and Traffic Cone turned out to be classical singer Aled Jones.

Other celebrities who have been unmasked during this series include former England footballer Michael Owen, singer Will Young and broadcaster Gloria Hunniford.

The first series of The Masked Singer was won by Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts, who performed as Queen Bee, while singer Stone took the crown during the second season.