The Masked Singer – Who is Pharoah? Alan Johnson is unmasked in episode two

Johnson was sent home by the judging panel of Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Rita Ora and Ken Jeong – each of whom had been unable to correctly identify him, with their guesses having included Vince Cable, Tony Blair and Ann Widdicombe. He had appeared in the bottom three with Monster and Daisy.

After his unmasking, Johnson claimed that it had been difficult to keep the secret – saying that “the show is so extraordinary it’s almost perverse to keep mute about it.”

He added that he had been drawn to take part in the show because it was so weird and wacky, and commented that his costume was “so amazingly detailed and skilfully made that it should have gone straight to a museum.”

And he said that if he could wear the costume on one last occasion, it would be to pick his grandchildren up from school!

Johnson expressed regret about going out in the first round, but praised the judging panel for being full of energy and humour – although he did admit that he wondered how any of them could have even suspected he might be Ann Widdecombe.

The first two episodes of the show have been hugely successful for ITV – it has already become the channel’s biggest new entertainment show since 2013 and has attracted plenty of buzz (both positive and negative) on social media.

The Masked Singer continues next Saturday 11th January at 7pm on ITV