Rat has been revealed as Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas on The Masked Singer.
“Queen of Latin” Ballas, 63, was sent home from the ITV1 celebrity competition show on the third episode on Saturday night.
The series sees celebrity contestants sing while wearing elaborate costumes.
She was unmasked by host Joel Dommett after landing in the bottom two along with Dippy Eggy following a public vote.
WELL DONE #RAT! That performance was SPECTACULAR! 🧀 Did you SNIFF out the right guess? #MaskedSingerUK 🎭 pic.twitter.com/6SZmNWY5vC
Advertisement— #MaskedSingerUK (@MaskedSingerUK) January 13, 2024
The panel of judges, made up of Olly Murs, Mo Gilligan and Davina McCall, chose to save Dippy Eggy.
They had guessed Coronation Street star Claire Sweeney, Killing Eve actress Jodie Comer, reality TV star Kerry Katona and Doctor Who actress Jodie Whittaker as Rat.
Ballas said: “I was very flattered actually because I just don’t sing at all and some of the people that you were saying, was like, wow!
“It was one of the best times of my life. It was way out of my comfort zone and I totally loved it.”
After the show, Ballas said she went on the series to “step out of my comfort zone”, and being a dancer helped her “stay in tune”.
She was also “very surprised”, her talk show host friend Ross did not know her.
“I’ve been on his shows and we’ve talked about Kilimanjaro, some of those clues he should have known and he didn’t get it,” she added.
Ballas also said “the whole nation will be totally surprised to see it’s me because the character is not the most feminine character”.
“The worst part of performing in the costume is the head gets very hot, it feels quite claustrophobic,” she also said.
Well, there you go. I was Rat! 🐀🎤
What a journey @MaskedSingerUK. Having never sang in my life I was so very out of my comfort zone but oh my I had a BLAST. Thank you to the whole team for this opportunity.
Hope you all loved Rat just as much as I did. ❤️ #MaskedSingerUK pic.twitter.com/HhtjEr2QU5— Shirley Ballas (@ShirleyBallas) January 13, 2024
“The best thing is that I’ve fallen in love with Rat and actually don’t want to leave him. I want him to be in my house.
“He’s a character I will hold close to my heart forever. I enjoyed my journey with Rat.”
The Masked Singer airs on Saturdays at 7pm on ITV1, ITVX and STV.
