The Masked Singer 2023 first clues as new line up of mystery celebs prepare to hit the stage

The Masked Singer judges have teased some first clues to the identity of this year’s acts.

The Masked Singer returns with a brand new series on New Year’s Day on ITV1 and ITVX with twelve mystery celebs.

The Masked Singer series 4 is fronted by Joel Dommett alongside celebrity sleuths Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross, Rita Ora and Davina McCall.

In each episode they will be trying to find out who is behind the mask.

One of the new contestants on the show include the first ever musical duo – Cat & Mouse.

Joel shares: “They are great. Weirdly, you would’ve thought, because there’s two of them, it’d be easier to guess, but it’s harder, I think. It’s really difficult, because there are two of them, you can’t hear the voice as much. So, it’s very interesting. ”

Davina adds: “It’s funny because you’d think, “Oh. Well, there’s two of them. If they’re a duo, then it’s easier to guess”. But I’ve been looking at them thinking, “You’re not a couple,” but then they might be acting like they are a couple.”

Davina also reveals some acts had left the panel in tears.

She explains: “Jellyfish is an extraordinary performer and has made us all feel pretty emotional. Rhino, as well, has been particularly emotive. There are people who completely draw you in.

“It’s lucky for Rhino, actually, that they can pull some emotion out of the bag, because it’s very, very hard in that costume to give us anything at all. They are massive, and they are quite humble. They keep putting their little hooves together, it looks so sweet. If it’s possible to have a sweet rhino, this is it.”

Rita agrees: “I think the characters I’m really drawn towards are Jellyfish and Rhino.

“And some of them really make me laugh, like Otter. Those three are the ones that stand out most to me.”

Mo adds of Otter’s costume: “I love otters, one of my favourite animals. Otters have a stone that they have to smash clams, so ours has little pockets for the stones on the costume. The attention to detail and the costumes are so cool.”

But for Mo, his ultimate standout costume is Jacket Potato.

“It’s so weird!” he enthuses. “You’ve even got styrofoam feet that you get for jacket potatoes. And you just look at it and the attention to detail is insane, he’s got a shirt which is beans and there is butter on his head.”

Meanwhile Mo and Rita also say that this year’s celebs are going all out to fool the judges.

“I feel people are really coming into their costumes more this series,” Mo suggests. “So Phoenix always looks at us a bit weirdly for example. Then you’ve got some characters who are really funny, which is also hard because you think – is this a comedian that I know?”

Rita adds: “I think actors and performers are doing that more this series. I don’t know if that’s a great strategy for singers, because I don’t know how long you’ll last if you do that when you’re belting out a big number. But for the actors and the ones that are not technically singers, they’re doing all these other things that I think are going to keep them in the competition. There are so many different strategies.”

Other characters in the competition this year are Rubbish, Fawn, Piece of Cake, Knitting, Pigeon and Ghost.

The Masked Singer starts on Sunday, 1 January at 6:30PM on ITV1 and ITVX.