Claire Richards has thrown a 'curveball' into the speculation that she is Knitting on The Masked Singer, with a Twitter post that fans are claiming is an deliberate move to throw people off the scent, as the Steps star declared it's someone else hiding behind the mask.
When Knitting made her debut on the first series of The Masked Singer's new series on New Year's Day, a whole host of celebrities were guessed by both the panel in the studio and ITV viewers at home. The appearance of a magpie and the number 2002, led plenty of people to believe iy might be Cheryl hiding inside the costume, while a mention of the word 'crafting' sent others in the direction of well known crafting queens Stacey Solomon and Sara Davies.
However, for fans of Steps it took just the first chorus of Knitting's debut performance to draw the conclusion that Knitting is Claire, especially after clues related to 56,7,8 and the magpie, which they argued was a clear nod to Steps it One for Sorrow.
READ MORE: Knitting 'confirms' Masked Singer identity with off screen clue
Then, after Knitting returned to the stage on Saturday's Masked Singer, many people declared there was 'no doubt' Knitting was Claire, after she sang No More Tears (Enough is Enough), a song Steps have actually sang on tour. The diehard Steps fans playing armchair detectives were quick to remember that and then when Knitting performed Cats anthem Memory in the sing-off, they argued that Claire's vocals were abundantly obvious.
Knitting won the panel's vote, with them sending Martin and Shirlie Kemp's Cat & Mouse home instead, meaning she is through to another week and, among the millions who watched the latest episode was Claire herself. And, like many others, Claire was also very forthcoming with her guesses, even one about who Knitting could be, when she posted: "#knitting Jane Macdonald! @MaskedSingerUK"
Not taken in for a second, one of her followers replied: "100% you!!! And I hope you win this!! I can recognise those lungs from anywhere!" with a second telling her: "ITS YOU!!! Trying to hide your amazing voice!! I can so hear your tone in there."
As well as Claire's voice being a big giveaway, other clues picked up by people watching Saturday's Masked Singer were the mention of the future being in two halves, a nod to Steps releasing two versions of their album What The Future Holds and Knitting asking someone to turn on the light, a not so subtle reference to the band's 2017 single Scared of the Dark.
Claire also unwittingly added to the theory that she is Knitting, when she uploaded a photo of her doing some crafting on Instagram, hours before Saturday's show started.
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