Howard Donald reveals all about his time on The Masked Dancer as Zip

Take That’s Howard Donald has revealed all about his time on The Masked Dancer.

In Saturday night’s live final, Howard was unveiled as Zip as he finished the competition in third place.

Speaking after his exit, Howard said of why he signed up: “Just the challenge in itself! It felt like nothing I’ve done before.

“I’m sure like everyone else as well it was good to get my fitness back and help with lockdown boredom.

“Dancing has always been my thing and singing comes second.”

Howard says it was “super hard” to keep the secret, adding: “Especially when you can’t even tell your own children.”

On his Zip outfit, Howard continued: “I love the mask. It’s me in a nutshell.

“From the first time I saw a drawing of the outfit I was so excited to get to be that character, although the big mask was restrictive when it came to some of the dance moves.

“[The mask] did give me a little bit more confidence but my anxiety was off the scale for the performances.

“I would definitely be less confident without the mask I think.”

He went on: “My costume was perfect, I wouldn’t change anything about it. I loved all my performances as well.

“The only one I was worried about was ‘Sky Full of Stars’, I don’t think the audience enjoyed that one as much and maybe didn’t quite get the contemporary dance.”

None of the panel correctly guessed Howard’s identity, with celebs named including JLS’ Marvin Humes, Olly Murs, Paddy McGuinness, and Rylan Clark-Neal.

“All the guesses were a mile off which I was really pleased about. Davina was on the money about my age,” said Howard.

Howard concluded: “I never thought I would make it to the final and I’m proud of myself to have made it so far.

“The rush of being put through the next round each time, it was the best feeling.”

Elsewhere in the final, Olympian Louis Smith as Carwash was the champion of The Masked Dancer ahead of Squirrel (Bonnie Langford) in second place and Scarecrow (Tamzin Outhwaite) in fourth.

The Masked Dancer, ITV and the ITV Hub