Alan Carr

Comedian Alan Carr has announced that he will be joining Davina McCall, Maya Jama, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan as a judge on the next series of The Masked Singer

Alan Carr is joining The Masked Singer as a judge. Bosses of the hit ITV competition, which sees celebrities dress up in elaborate costumes in an attempt to conceal their identity as they perform pop songs, had teased that a famous face was set to join the panel for the next series.

Since its inception in 2020, Jonathan Ross and Davina McCall have been part of the programme, whilst Mo Gilligan joined in the second series and Love Island host Maya Jama replaced Maya Jama just under two years ago. Joel Dommett has served as the presenter since the beginning as well and now, Celebrity Traitors winner Alan, 50, has announced that he is joining the panel.

Speaking on ITV’s This Morning on Friday, he said: “Yes, it’s me, Alan. I’m sick and tired of watching that panel make terrible guesses. I’ve been Red Panda, I’ve been Teeth. Dunno why they thought of me!

“So yes, I’m bringing the panel something they desperately need – intelligence. Watch out, Jonathan, Maya, Davina and Mo because I’m bringing my own detectives to rival yours! Oh yes, and we’re not here to play, we are here to win!”

Hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary were thrilled with the news, and Alison said: “Oh my gosh, that has made my day. It’s gonna be brilliant! It’s gonna be great, well done, Alan, we can’t wait to see you joining the panel.”

Alan has previously served as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent and was also part of the panel for ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream, which sought to find two unknown performers to play the leads in the ABBA jukebox musical.

In the build-up to the reveal, the social media account for The Masked Singer had teased that someone new was on the way and laid out a series of clues in the video. Fans instantly started to speculate as to who the mystery celeb could be as the video claimed that “something big” was about to happen.

Initially, followers thought that a singer was joining the panel, with one writing: “We do need a singer panellist ngl,” and another said: “we need someone on the panel that knows singing like the back of their hand that does singing full time like [former panellist] Rita [Ora]”

One fan thought that, if a singer was indeed joining the panel, it could be West End star Mazz Murray. They wrote: “Mazz Murray because of the Greece postcard and it says missing you and Mazz left Mamma Mia! and Donna Sheridan is one of her most well known roles.”

Another thought it could be McFly stars Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher, but another simply said: “Whatever it is, if it’s being teased early it’ll be big.”

The Masked Singer normally airs in January, and earlier this year, Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan won the series after no one managed to guess that she had been secretly performing as Moth.

Other winners over the years include pop stars Nicola Roberts and Natalie Imbruglia as well as West End actress Samantha Barks, who is best known for her roles in Les Miserables and Frozen.

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Perrie Edwards has explained why Leigh-Anne Pinnock has likely been cast as a traitor after her former Little Mix bandmate was announced as part of the lineup for the hit BBC show

Perrie Edwards has explained why Leigh-Anne Pinnock has likely been cast as a traitor on the next series of Celebrity Traitors. The Little Mix star, 32, was asked for her opinion after her bandmate Leigh-Anne, 34, was announced as part of the lineup for the upcoming edition of Claudia Winkleman‘s hit BBC series.

Earlier this year, comedian Alan Carr schemed his way to victory after being cast as a traitor and now that Leigh-Anne, along with a host of other huge names like Love Island host Maya Jama and Coronation Street legend Julie Hesmondhalgh have been chosen to enter the famous castle as either a Faithful or a Traitor, Perrie has weighed in

Speaking on the Hanging Out with Ant & Dec podcast, she implied she’d be a good traitor because of her affinity for mischief: “Oh she is so annoying, I already know she is going to annoy me. You don’t understand how infuriating it is, she would lie about silly things so she would do pranks and we’d be like, ‘Leigh-Anne’s that’s…’ and she’d be like ‘it’s a prank’ and I’m like ‘that’s not a prank you’ve just lied, it’s just annoying’. And so I don’t know if I’ve got it in me to watch her do that for a full series.”

Despite her enthusiasm and ability to come up with a theory for her bandmate, Perrie admitted that this will be the first time she has ever seen the hit game show.

She said: “I’ve never seen it, never! I can’t get into it but now I am going to have to because Leigh-Anne’s on it and so I need to watch it now!”

Initially, the star avoided using words and simply shared two emojis after the announcement was made that she was set to take part. She posted a looking eyes emoji as well as an emoji covering its faces with its hands to signal she isn’t sure what she’s signed herself up for in the new season.

Leigh-Anne will line up with some huge names in the industry, including Michael Sheen and Jerry Hall. The 21-star list also includes Richard E Grant and Miranda Hart.

Also taking part is BBC presenter Amol Rajan, The Last of Us actress Bella Ramsey and comedian James Acaster – not to be mixed up with You’re Beautiful singer James Blunt, who has also signed up. Comedy stars Joanne McNally and Joe Lycett, and social media content creator King Henry were also announced.

Industry actress Myha’la and BBC maths guru Professor Hannah Fry. Rob Beckett with be bringing laughs alongside TV sidekick Romesh Ranganathan, flanked by former EastEnder Ross Kemp and My Mad Fat Diary star Sharon Rooney.

Game of Thrones actor Sebastian Croft completes the line-up as former Strictly Come Dancing presenter Claudia gets ready to choose her Traitors.

While they will all take part exactly like the usual Traitors series, rather than take any winnings themselves, the celebrity players will be donating anything they get from the potential £100,000 jackpot to their chosen charities

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