John Lydon took part in The Masked Singer US in 2021 for his wife Nora Forster, who has died after a battle with Alzheimer's.
The Sex Pistols front man, 67, also known by his stage name Johnny Rotten, said after he was unveiled as The Jester that Nora would get a "great sense of fun" out of guessing it was him.
Nora's death at 80-years-old was announced by John's official page on Twitter, saying she had been living with Alzheimer's for several years, and John had been her full time carer.
Speaking about his decision to appear on singing competition, John said: "Someone contacted my manager and we discussed it and I thought it would be really good because it meant my lovely wife, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, might get a great sense of fun out of it if she managed to guess who it was.
"We’ve lived together for 47 years, Nora and I, so she must have some clues as to who I am and what I can get up to."
During his time on the show, John performed Alice Cooper's hit track School's Out as well as the track I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow by Soggy Bottom Boys.
But none of the five judges - Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Robin Thicke and Will.i.am - were able to correctly identify him as the man behind The Jester costume.
But John said Nora did work out it was him, although he was devastated he couldn't watch it with her.
"I can't travel with my lovely Nora, so I have to do it on FaceTime with her every night," he said.
"I think she did guess... they made me a lovely pair of Jester gloves for me and Nora had them on when I talked to her on FaceTime."
Born into a wealthy German newspaper family, Nora was working as a music promoter in London when she met John, and they married in 1979.
She had a daughter Ari, who she took with her to Sex Pistols shows and Ari later formed punk band The Slits.
However she died in 2010 from breast cancer, aged just 48.
In January, John spoke about caring for his wife, as he dedicated his entry to represent Ireland at Eurovision, to her.
Touching on his previously unheard song titled Hawaii, he told Good Morning Britain: “This is the beginning of a new journey. Oddly enough, as bad as Alzheimer's is, there are great moments of tenderness between us.
“I try to capture that in the song. It’s not all waiting for the Grim Reaper. I can see the personality in her eyes that lets me know.
“Her communication skills are letting her down. I’m just blessed that I can be there and catch on to that and pass something useful on to other people.”
He added: “I care now for all of its victims. Particularly spouses that have to endure this. What you’ve got to do is fight.”
