Alison Hammond

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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This Morning presenter Alison Hammond caused quite a stir online after she met Prince Harry for the countdown of the Invictus Games

Things took an awkward turn during the latest instalment of This Morning as Alison Hammond called Prince Harry, “babes”.

The ITV show was back with another jam-packed show on Friday (July 10), as presenters Dermot O’Leary and Angela Scanlon took the reins in the studio. Meanwhile, Alison was in Birmingham for the countdown to the Invictus Games.

Founded by Prince Harry, the Invictus Games is a global sporting competition that began in 2014 for military personnel and veterans who have been wounded, injured, or become ill during their service. The name Invictus, which means “unconquered” in Latin, reflects the resilience, determination, and strength of participants.

Trying her best to interview the founder, presenter Alison was thrown into a race. But she did manage to steal a hug from him wheh he spotted her and she referred to him as “babes” leaving viewers very unimpressed with one labelling it “a car crash”.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, in their droves, fans of the ITV show shared their thoughts. One viewer said: “I’m just waiting for her to call him ‘Babes’. She didn’t disappoint.”

Another fumed: “Alison, what on God’s Earth are you doing? Absolutely embarrassing behaviour! Are you 6 years old?!” A third viewer chimed in and wrote: “What a car crash and a bloody noise.”

A fourth added: “Hammond….just an embarrassment.” While another agreed, saying: “This is embarrassing.”

However, some viewers loved Alison’s approach, with one writing: “Howling at Alison. You go girl.” Another added: “Harry always has some spare time for Alison.”

Prince Harry’s appearance on This Morning came as rival daytime show Morning Live announced on Friday that it is now taking a break for the summer.

At the beginning of the live BBC broadcast, host Gethin Jones revealed that Morning Live would be taking a break and wouldn’t return for some time throughout the summer months.

It’s not yet known when Morning Live will be back on air, but from next week, the slot will be filled by fresh episodes of Animal Park, which will air straight after BBC Breakfast from 9.30am until 10.15am.

The documentary programme is also scheduled to air from the following Monday (July 20) as well.

Kate Humble and Ben Fogle will mark 25 years of Animal Park next week, looking back at unforgettable animal tales and their lasting bond.

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.

Big Brother star Lily Benson drunkenly booked herself into The Savoy days after she spoke of how she was about to be made “homeless” and was to be evicted from her flat

Big Brother star Lily Benson has treated herself to a night in The Savoy – just days after she claimed she was being made homeless. The The reality star, 21, has carved out a career as an influencer since she shot to fame as a housemate on the 2024 series of the ITV2 reality show, and has kept fans up to date with her day-to-day life since.

Earlier this week, Lily told her followers that she was about to be evicted from her flat and Sunday was her moving out day, but left her packing to the the last minute after getting tickets to a Harry Styles gig.

In her first update on the hectic day, Lily posted a video on Instagram where she looked panicked as she wheeled her belongings out of the flat and wrote: “Note to self. Don’t leave moving to the last day.”

In the next update, Lily wrote: “My temporary housing accommodation,” and could be heard thanking a doorman who helped her with her luggage as she revealed she was staying in the luxury hotel. She added: “I booked this drunk last night.”

In the next slide, Lily had donned the complimentary robe and slippers with the hotel’s branding on them and Kerry Riches, who found fame on the first series of the ITV version of Big Brother and has since appeared on Good Morning Britain as a disability campaigner, commented: “I’m hpwling but you’re gonna absolutely love it. It’s my favourite hotel ever! Xx”

It comes after Warrington-born Lily, who famously spoke about working in a Chinese takeaway whilst in the house and, since moving to London for her showbiz career, has documented long-running sagas such as getting her broken Louboutins fixed, took took to TikTok on Tuesday with a far more bleak update for her followers.

After speaking about a rat problem in her flat, she said: “I’m also homeless, on Sunday I get evicted from my place. I currently have nowhere to go. I had two months to look for a place but I’ve just been busy with my hot girl summer and it’s not been in my vocabulary to look for a place.

But Lily didn’t seem too bothered about her living arrangement, and was more concerned about getting a tan in the coming days as she expressed her confusion over the “retirement” of the Prime Minister.

She said: “So I’m probably just gonna have to get an Airbnb or summat. Or I could go back to Warrington but the UV here is so high. Why would I go back to Warrington when I can’t get a tan there? My Stranded in London content is coming soon.”

“But my main priority right now is I have the Maybelline summer party, and the UV is eight degrees, I’m gonna get a killer tan and listen to heartbreak music. That’s my life update. It’s very solemn. I found out today that Keir Starmer has retired – what the f*** is going on?”

Lily has amassed almost half a million followers across both Instagram and TikTok since rising to fame but admitted that at the time she applied for the reality show, which has launched the careers of This Morning stars Alison Hammond and Josie Gibson as well as fellow presenters like Brian Dowling and Kate Lawler, she only did it as an act of revenge against an ex-boyfriend.

At the time, she told ITV: “I originally applied because it was my ex’s favourite TV show because we broke up. I thought ‘I’m going to go on his favourite TV show.’ I’d never heard of it.

“When I dated him, he was obsessed with it and I was like ‘What is it?’ because he was older. When we broke up, I saw the advert and I thought I’m going to apply for his favourite TV show and get on it – I didn’t think I would!”

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