First look at The Masked Singer 2023 mystery stars in…

First look at The Masked Singer 2023 mystery stars in costume as clues teased

ITV has given a first look at the new series of The Masked Singer - and fans don't have long to wait until it's back on their screens.

Hosted by comedian Joel Dommett with Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross, Mo Gilligan and Rita Ora all returning to the judging panel, the new series will kick off on New Year's Day and promises to be bigger and better than ever. Thirteen mystery stars will take to the stage in costume - including the show's first ever double act under the guise of Cat and Mouse.

The fourth series will also see Fawn, Jacket Potato, Piece of Cake, Pigeon, Rhino, Rubbish, Ghost, Jellyfish, Knitting, Otter and Phoenix battling it out for the crown, The Mirror reports. But viewers will have to put on their detective hats to guess their true identities with cryptic clues teased throughout the series.

Last series saw Panda voted as the winner, who was ultimately unmasked as singing superstar Natalie Imbruglia. She beat Mushroom - aka Charlotte Church - to the crown, while Westlife's Mark Feehily, football legend Michael Owen and pop star Will Young also starred in the show in elaborate costumes.

Jacket Potato, Rubbish, Piece of Cake, Fawn, Pigeon, and Rhino are all taking to the stage in the new series (ITV)

Teasing what viewers can expect from the new contestants, Davina divulged: "Jellyfish is an extraordinary performer and has made us all feel pretty emotional. Rhino, as well, has been particularly emotive. There are people who completely draw you in.

"It’s lucky for Rhino, actually, that they can pull some emotion out of the bag, because it's very, very hard in that costume to give us anything at all. They are massive, and they are quite humble."

While fellow judge Mo teased some great costumes ahead. He said: "Probably this series, my favourite costume is Jacket Potato, it's so weird!

"You've even got Styrofoam feet that you get for jacket potatoes. And you just look at it and the attention to detail is insane, he's got a shirt of beans and there is butter on his head.

"And then there's Otter, I love otters, one of my favourite animals," he added. "Otters have a stone that they have to smash clams, so ours has little pockets for the stones on the costume. The attention to detail and the costumes are so cool."

Speaking about the show's first duo Cat and Mouse, Davina mused: "It's funny because you'd think, 'Well, there's two of them. If they're a duo, then it's easier to guess'. But I've been looking at them thinking, 'You're not a couple,' but then they might be acting like they are a couple."

Jonathan also admitted it made things trickier for the judges to figure out who might be behind the mask, adding: "So it makes it a bit harder to guess because the clues could be about one of them or both of them, you know what I mean? So it's harder in many ways but it's a lot more fun to watch because you try and pick up from them what is their relationship?

"Are they people who are together off screen? Are they people who work together? So it feels like a different element and it means that they can do different things on stage together as well. So you have a different kind of comic dynamic going on there," he teased.

The Masked Singer will return on January 1 2023 on ITV.

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