Ne-Yo spills secrets from his time on The Masked Singer UK as Badger

Ne-Yo has shared all about his time on The Masked Singer UK.

Ne-Yo was unmasked as Badger in the final of the second series at the weekend.

He finished as runner up to Sausage in the show which was watched by a record of audience of more than 10 million viewers.

Speaking about signing up for the show, Ne-Yo shared: “I’ve been a fan of the show from the start! Really, I just wanted to try and see how far I could go without being identified.”

Ne-Yo went on to talk about his Badger outfit: “Aside from it being terribly hot, I loved my mask and costume!

“The Rock n’ Roll Badger has become a part of my life and will forever hold a special place in my heart!

“The costume designers are TOP NOTCH! They didn’t need any input from me, nor was I going to stand in the way of their genius.”

He added: “The only real nerves involved with performing in my costume for the first time was fear of falling off stage!

“Initially I couldn’t see very well. But they rectified that problem quickly. After that it was all confidence and swag!”

Ne-Yo described secrecy on set as “extreme”, remarking: “I doubt Fort Knox has more security!

“I must say I was sad to go. Mainly because I still didn’t know who anybody was! I tell you, they run a super tight ship over there! But I had an absolute blast. Didn’t last long enough.”

Even though it wasn’t until the very last episode that the panel guessed Ne-Yo was behind the mask, he says he wanted the clues to be even harder than they were.

He said: “The clue packages were just vague enough to the point where you really had to know a thing or two about me in order to guess. I loved that. I wanted to make the clues even harder actually!

“It was so hard not to laugh at some of the panel’s guesses. They REALLY had no clue who I was and I loved it!

Ne-Yo concluded of his time on the show: “I’m always for anything that allows me to step away from being me for a while.

“The Masked Singer allowed me one of the greatest opportunities to do so since I first started writing songs for other people!

“To use another element of my voice and body, to literally become this character, it was an experience I won’t soon forget. Eternally grateful.”

Ne-Yo missed out on the title to Sausage in the grand final, with her identity being unmasked as Joss Stone.

She said: “Even through all of these heavy serious lockdown days, with the worry of things we cannot control looming over us, we proved that we can adjust to our new times and still laugh and play together and be productive. That is the stuff of life!

“We must never forget that. That is why we need to keep things like ’The Masked Singer ‘ and other expressions of art and music in its most care free form alive.”

Third place was Robin who was unmasked as JLS star Aston Merrygold.

The Masked Singer UK airs on ITV.