The Masked Singer's Chameleon on how he achieved "perfect secrecy" before unmasking
Here's how the secrets of the hit ITV series are kept...
The Masked Singer unveiled another contestant over the weekend and the result was a shock to all.
After a tense sing-off between Chameleon and Duck, the judges decided to reveal the identity behind the lizard's colourful mask.
Many were left completely stunned to see The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins standing on stage – especially considering none of the judges had put his name forward.
RadioTimes.com exclusively caught up with Justin after his unmasking and it seems he kept the secret from absolutely everyone.
With no-one in front of the camera knowing who was behind each mask, how did the concept work behind-the-scenes?
Justin revealed: "It's weird because there's a bit of a creative process and just sort of perfecting the costume and the song choices and so on; there was a lot of work and all of it had to be conducted in perfect secrecy.
"I wasn't allowed to tell anybody what I was up to and I had to be absent from a few things just to be able to pull it off. So it was challenging because all of the usual sounding posts that I use weren't available to me.
"Luckily, all of the production team, the vocal coaches, the costume designers were absolutely brilliant - they were all pros as well so the whole experience was enjoyable."
For Justin, the timing of The Masked Singer couldn't have been better, as it landed the same time as The Darkness's new single, In Another Life, from their recent album Easter Is Cancelled.
Thankfully as well, the weird and wonderful nature of the unexpected ITV hit show is something that appealed to the frontman.
"It's a great moment for me doing something weird that everyone is watching - I couldn't resist it really."
As for the Chameleon costume? Justin completely loved it, despite its challenges.
He explained: "The base layer is just Spandex. That's easy-peasy, I'm used to that. It's warm but I like that - I like a bit of heat.
"On top of that, there was a battery pack which was quite heavy, but I'm used to carrying a guitar so that's comparable. The limbs didn't articulate as easily as I would have liked - I had an exo-skeleton with the lights on so I couldn't bend my arms properly, or my legs.
"The helmet was pretty heavy and I couldn't see out of it and I had to be led everywhere. It gave me an insight in to what it must be like to be partially sighted - it was really challenging.
"Despite the restrictions I just listed, I had more freedom than most of those other costumes!"
The Masked Singer continues on Saturdays at 7pm on ITV
Authors
Helen Daly is the Associate Editor for Radio Times, overseeing new initiatives and commercial projects for the brand. She was previously Deputy TV Editor at a national publication. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Media & Journalism from Newcastle University.
