Bosses of ITV’s The Masked Singer have been forced to change the clues as fans have turned to Google to find out tricky answers.
Viewers of the hit Saturday night show have been furiously researching any of the cryptic clues, and steps have now been taken to ensure that nobody easily finds out the identities of the celebrity contestants on the internet.
It comes after fans were able to discover the identity of The Fox in last year’s The Masked Singer, after a seemingly innocent clue that the celeb inside the costume collected teapots.
Within minutes, viewers simply turned to Google and found out Denise Van Outen had a hobby collecting teapots, and unmasked her as The Fox.
One of the show’s creators Derek McLean, from Bandicoot TV, has said they learnt a valuable lesson from their blunder with Denise, and this year, the clues won’t be as easy.
"We thought it was a great clue and no one would pick up on it. Turns out if you Google ‘Denise Van Outen and teapots’ it’s there in loads of articles,” he said, according to the Daily Star.
“It was a massive learning curve. Everything is findable,” he added.
And Derek had a warning for viewers: “If you think you can Google the answer now it’s not going to be there.”
He said he and co-creator Dan Nettleton “love all the mad guessing”, and he’s proud of their cryptic clues, which he likened to the “crossword in The Telegraph”.
Dan confirmed some fans have correctly guessed the indietities of the celebrities on this year’s show, even though the clues have been dubbed “tough and fiendish”.
“More names are out there on social media this year than last year. People have cracked many of them,” he said.
However, he had some bad news for viewers who are confident they’ve guessed them all.
“There is one celebrity that no one has got yet. People are miles away from guessing it,” Dan teased.
Fans have been sharing their suggestions on social media, with many convinced singer and actress Toyah Willcox is tipped to be unmasked as Panda.
Meanwhile, Destiny's Child star Michelle Williams is speculated to be Rockhopper, and
Firework is tipped to be Pixie Lott, a Spice Girl, Jessie J or an Atomic Kitten star.
Viewers have also suggested Mushroom could be Aisling Bea, Michaela Strachan or Charlotte Church.
The Masked Singer airs on Saturday on ITV at 7pm
