‘It’s the hardest ever!’ The Masked Singer judges spill all on this year’s show

The Masked Singer judges think this year’s series is the toughest yet.

Davina McCall, Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan are back in their detective chairs as the guessing game begins all over again.

Joel Dommett hosts the only show that can claim to have moved viewers to tears with a dragon’s emotional rendition of Adele’s Make You Feel My Love, and to have blown away audiences with a leather-clad biking Badger’s performance of Wrecking Ball.

Entering its third series, the clues are trickier than ever and the panel admit they’ve been struggling.

Davina said: “The difficulty level is off the charts. It’s so much harder this year than it ever has been before, the clues are much harder, but I think they want to make it harder because it’s
entertaining. I have come to realise that it is more fun watching someone get unmasked when you don’t know because you’re so excited to find out who it is. So, it’s a win/win for me.

“It’s a win if you get it right but it’s also a massive win if you don’t because you think who is it?! I have no idea. There are a lot this year who I don’t know who they are.

“I felt a bit of pressure to get it right in the first couple of series but now I’ve realised part of the fun is not knowing. I’ll do my best but equally it’s as good if I don’t get who they are.”

The TV star continued: “It’s interesting. Rita is slightly struggling because it’s all gone to next level harder. Rita’s like, ‘I can’t tune into the voices in the same way.’

“Jonathan’s actually doing weirdly well but Jonathan does know every single human being on the planet because he’s interviewed them or he’s played some kind of game with them. He’s got a story about everyone. It’s amazing, but don’t tell him I said that because it will go really badly to his head.”

Rita agreed: “I think this series is the hardest because people are catching onto what our strong points are. I always listen to the voice, Jonathan and Mo are so strong on the comedy side of things, Davina knows everyone!

“It’s hard for me now because they’re adjusting their accents and their singing voices which is what I always rely on.”

And Jonathan Ross shared: “One person was trained to sing using their mouth in a different way so that their very distinctive voice doesn’t sound like it. We probably would have guessed if they were singing the way they normally sing.

“The clues kind of help and kind of don’t help as often they can apply to more than one person.

“So, you’ll convince yourself you’ve got it right and then afterwards when you realise what they meant with the clue, it makes perfect sense. In a way, what you thought previously, also made perfect sense. I think it’s probably harder than ever.”

The Masked Singer airs Saturday nights on ITV.