Charlie Simpson reveals all about The Masked Singer as Rhino

Charlie Simpson has spilled all about his time on The Masked Singer as Rhino.

The Masked Singer 2023 concluded its grand final on ITV1 on Saturday night.

The singing competition sees celebs go head to head to put on a standout musical performance all while keeping their identity a secret with outrageous masks and costumes.

In the final, Rhino was crowned the winner and took off their mask to reveal Busted star Charlie Simpson.

Speaking about his victory, Charlie said: “It was amazing to make it into the final. The whole thing seems like a bit of a blur looking back.

“I never expected to win to be honest but I just wanted to give it my best. I had no idea who I was actually up against and didn’t really hear the other people sing as we were kept away from each other during filming.”

He added: “It was sad to say goodbye to Rhino. You grow quite attached to your character during the show as you spend so much time with the costume. Sometimes I’d just be on my own in the dressing room waiting for my performance slot and have his face just staring back at me.”

After Rhino had taken off his mask, host Joel Dommett revealed he had correctly guessed it was Charlie under the mask from the first episode.

“I was very happy when Joel called my name. I have never been in a singing competition before so I found the whole thing quite surreal,” Charlie reacted.

And the singer shared: “My band mates in both Busted and Fightstar guessed it was me within the first two seconds of hearing Rhino sing. When you spend that much time on stage with people and spend so much time in the studio, it would be very hard for them not to get it pretty much instantly.”

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Asked why he signed up, Charlie explained: “I thought it would be something that my kids would love to watch and also it looked like a really fun show to do.

“The Rhino costume was amazing. I was blown away by the mask, they did such a good job creating it. I thought the western sheriff vibe was great as well.

Meanwhile despite lots of experience performing, Charlie confessed to being “terrified” singing under the mask.

He explained: “I know many people have said that being behind the mask makes them more confident but I have never really been a nervous performer. I love singing, so I feel as though I have always had the confidence to perform.

“The thing that terrified me was remembering the lyrics. It’s something I got really anxious about. I kept worrying that my mind would go blank and I would forget the lyrics as they were not songs I was used to singing.”

The Masked Singer ITV1 and ITVX

You can catch up with the series via the ITVX website.