The Masked Dancer's celebrity panel gasped when the first contestant of The Masked Dancer was unveiled.
Twelve more celebrities took on colourful costumes and alter egos as they took to the dancefloor as the zany ITV weekend show returned to screens following a successful debut season last year. Wannabe detectives tried to crack the case of which famous faces were hiding behind the costumes, but it was time for one star to be unmasked.
Candlesticks, Scissors, Astronaut, Odd Socks, Prawn Cocktail and Pillar and Post all took to the dancefloor to compete in front of Peter Crouch, Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall and Oti Mabuse, with the former Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer gasping and joking as she said "I'm dying" when her teenage crush was unmasked in front of her, the Manchester Evening News reports.
READ MORE: Warning issued to anyone who rents a home in the UK
After all the dancing, it was revealed that Astronaut turned out to be American actor Jesse Metcalfe. The 43-year-old actor is known for his role as teen gardener John Rowland in the US comedy-drama Desperate Housewives.
Davina said: "We've got women freaking out." Before Oti said to her: "I'm freaking out".
The former Big Brother host added: "This show goes to show it could be anyone." While Jesse returned to the stage to dance to The Weeknd's Blinding Lights, Oti could be heard in the background saying: "He was my high school crush."
Jesse was asked why he decided to take part in the show, with him replying: "I thought it would be fun because dance is something that really intimidates me so it's a fear that I wanted to face. This has been unbelievable, it's one of the most zany things I’ve ever done in my career but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself.”
The actor claimed there was "something liberating" about being an anonymous figure in the costume, but he said he was relieved when he could finally remove the mask because it was "incredibly hot to dance in" and the "visibility wasn't great".
Jesse admitted it was hard to keep his role in the show under wraps. He said: "I’m obviously based in the US, and I couldn’t tell friends why I was in the country, so lots of ignoring messages and being vague about what I was doing…and even some outright lying."
He also went on to explain the effort that is needed behind the scenes to keep people's identities a secret. He said: "The protocols on the stages were very strict. Annoyingly so, at times.
"Had to be entirely covered at all times: mask, balaclava, hoodie, gloves. And you literally couldn’t speak to anyone on stage during rehearsals for fear of being identified by your voice. Not talking was quite hard for me!"
Last series viewers saw Olympic gymnast Louis Smith dance to victory dressed as Car Wash. The series also saw Radio DJ and presenter Zoe Ball unmasked as Llama, choreographer and TV judge Craig Revel Horwood as Knickerbocker Glory, Ice skating legend Christopher Dean as Beagle, Howard Donald as Zip and presenter Kelly Brook as Frog.
READ NEXT:
Five popular foods you should avoid putting in your air fryer
ITV This Morning's Vernon Kay red-faced after Rochelle Humes' rude remark
Emmerdale stars you may not know are together in real life
Every DWP cost of living payment between September and Christmas
Energy warning over washing machine settings that cost more money
