Claire Richards from pop group Steps and comedian-turned-actress Daisy May Cooper have been unveiled as Knitting and Otter on The Masked Singer UK.
The double elimination saw Knitting unmasked first following a vote from the studio audience during Saturday night’s show, with the judges offering their final guess of who the character could be.
Guest panellist Stephen Mulhern, who admitted he is a “huge fan” and has “never missed an episode” of the show, was convinced the singer was his good friend Richards after she blew him kisses before her performance.
Richards (45) told the judging panel: “I thought you were just going to get me from day one. On the first show when you didn’t have a clue, I was so chuffed.”
The singer said she put “a lot of thought” into the Northern accent she put on, and admitted she is a “massive massive fan” of the ITV show.
“I feel like a fan who won a competition. It’s just been amazing I’ve just loved it,” she said.
Richards, who revealed the four knitting needles was a reference to placing fourth place on reality show Big Brother, hoped her children would be “surprised” and “happy”, but admitted her son might be “a little bit mortified” by her appearance.
Cooper was the next to be unmasked in the episode after ending up in the bottom two where the judges chose to save Fawn who sailed through to next week’s semi-final alongside alongside Jellyfish, Rhino, Jacket Potato and Phoenix.
Judge Mo Gilligan, who was the first panellist to guess the correct celebrity, said: “I got one! And it was an otter and I love otters. Do you know what it was with you Daisy, you could tell you were a comedic actress because you’re so physical, but you’re a really good singer.”
Host Joel Dommett said: “You didn’t stop moving the entire time,” to which Cooper replied: “Tell me about it! Oh my god why did I put so much energy into the first…and then I had to keep it up. Why couldn’t I have been a sloth or something.”
The 36-year-old added: “I’ve loved it, I mean I’m exhausted and absolutely relieved but I loved every single second of it and I did this for my daughter Pip who is a massive fan of the show and because I needed the cash.”
She later said when her daughter found out she was going to be the Otter, “she cried and said that it was embarrassing”.
The episode also saw Jacket Potato take to the stage playing a golden guitar while performing Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac while boxes of potatoes danced around them.
The audience and judges took to their feet during the performance, with TV presenter Davina McCall describing it as “epic” and “electrifying” before guessing it was Elvis Costello, meanwhile Gilligan thought it could be Vic Reeves and Rita Ora suggesting it was Eric Clapton, who she said was playing in her household growing up.
WELL DONE #KNITTING! We had a BALL watching you perform! 🧶 #MaskedSingerUK 🎭✨ pic.twitter.com/kkWvTV1BEX
— #MaskedSingerUK (@MaskedSingerUK) February 4, 2023
Fawn opened the show with an upbeat rendition of Sigma’s Changing, with Gilligan adding that he was “absolutely fawning in love with you”, before guessing the act was Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain.
Rhino delivered a powerful rendition of Ariana Grande’s Into You for their performance while dressed as a cowboy.
Based on the wanted clue, judge Ora guessed it could be singer Max George from British band The Wanted while Ross opted to pick former The X Factor winner James Arthur.
Comedian Gilligan went for Take That’s Jason Orange following a clue about a reunion, while Mulhern thought it could be US actor Ben Stiller – given the Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn clues.
Meanwhile, Phoenix closed the performances on the show impressing with a rendition of It’s Not Unusual by Sir Tom Jones.
Gilligan thought the celebrity could be Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke because the performance was so “flamboyant”, while Ross suggested it could be Paddy McGuinness who starred in Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights sitcom.
Mulhern spotted the singer had stayed in character, suggesting it was West End star Michael Ball – meanwhile a reference to deep diving made Ora believe it was Olympian Tom Daley.
The Masked Singer continues on Saturdays at 7pm on Virgin Media One.
