Charlotte Church went to great lengths not to give the game away on The Masked Singer.
The Welsh singer, 35, was unmasked as Mushroom on the ITV show on Saturday night, surprising judges Jonathan Ross, Mo Gilligan, Rita Ora and Davina McCall when revealing just who was under the toadstool.
The judges may not have been the only ones shocked by the mum-of-three's stint on the show.
Charlotte has revealed that her nearest and dearest were kept in the dark about her cameo as a singing fungus - even lying to her own mother, Maria Cooper in order to keep Mushroom's identity under wraps.
Speaking after the grand finale - which saw Panda AKA Natalie Imbruglia crowned winner - runner-up Mushroom admitted she signed up for the show as it was the "perfect opportunity" to return to singing.
"I took on the challenge because I liked the idea of the show being entirely centered around the voice, and I haven't sung in the public eye for quite some time now so it felt like the perfect opportunity," Charlotte explained after coming second on Saturday night.
"Also, I really wanted to design my own costume as I thought this would be very exciting to do, and it really was."
The Welsh singer-songwriter went on to admit it was tough to keep Mushroom's identity to herself.
"It's REALLY hard to keep the secret," the star recalled.
"I've even had to lie to my own mum!"
Charlotte's final performances as Mushroom were an operatic masterclass of the Flower Duet by Léo Delibes and a rendition of Demi Lovato's Stone Cold, with three of the judging panel guessing their identity was Charlotte Church ahead of the big reveal.
In their last clue package Mushroom said: "Last time, when it came to names, the panel got themselves in a little mix over who I am. Tonight the mystery of who's hiding under Mushroom will finally be solved. Making it to tonight's final is something I will always remember.
"While I may have been given the diva title over the years, I certainly don't consider myself one."
Speaking with a Northern accent, but appearing to sing with an Irish tone, many viewers were stumped by Mushroom's hints.
"The clue packages were really fun because of the accents I was able to do mostly," Charlotte confessed when looking back on her cryptic hints.
"That was so enjoyable and really playful to be able to showcase my different accents. A lot of the time, the clues were so wildly abstract, I didn't even realise it was me."
The eco-conscious star also enjoyed the costume side of things on the show, thanks to Mushroom's obvious links to the environment.
"I love Mushroom to the core of my soul and I really love the role that Fungi plays on Earth. I think that it's going to be so important in how we fix a lot of the ecological problems that we're currently facing, including things such as soil degradation," the star said.
"So, to be the representative for the mushroom community felt absolutely brilliant, my heart was fit to burst!"
Charlotte even admitted she would like to don the Mushroom mask "on a children’s climate march" if she could wear the costume one final time for another occasion.
