Michael Owen has spoken out after being unmasked as Doughnuts on The Masked Singer.
The Masked Singer UK third season is airing Saturday nights on ITV.
The celebrity guessing game sees famous faces go head to head to put on a standout music performance all while hiding their identities with outrageous costumes.
Saturday night’s latest episode saw football legend Michael Owen unmasked as he was eliminated after singing Five’s Everybody Get Up.
Speaking after his exit, Michael confessed he had never watched the show before signing up.
He explained: “I’d never watched it before but had heard of the show. I’m not normally free on Saturday nights during the football season as I’m often travelling back from games.
“I have been approached to do other TV shows but I usually have a busy TV schedule and that has always meant I haven’t been able to or I hadn’t felt like the shows were a good fit. I have four children and they have been badgering me to do one and then this opportunity came up.
“When this opportunity came up I decided to say yes – but I still had to overcome a hurdle as there was the small matter of the Manchester Derby potentially being moved which would clash with one of the filming dates but thankfully everything fell into place.”
On keeping his role a secret, Michael continued: “I thought it was hard keeping it a secret while I was filming but while it was on air, it was really difficult.
“After the first show, my phone was red hot with people I know asking if I was Doughnuts so it was hard to reply but still keep my involvement in the show a secret. ”
Discussing his Doughnuts costume, Michael went on: “I really liked it – I found it amazing not only how the creative people design them but also make them into a reality. I was particularly pleased with my outfit – I think it looked brilliant although it was really hot inside and quite claustrophobic for the first couple of days of wearing it.
“I could move about unlike some other characters which helped with the performances. I was actually quite sad after the reveal and that I had to get out of it for the last time.”
Michael admitted he was “petrified” about sharing his singing voice with viewers, saying: “A lot of people on the show are professional singers or have had some training but singing as you can tell is probably the least of my strengths.
“I can’t recall ever having nerves like I had on the first show – my whole body went numb when I went out and saw the crowd for the first time. I knew I was useless and it took an awful lot of courage but it also really helped having the costume on – I’m not sure I could have done it without that.”
The Masked Singer series 3 is helmed by Joel Dommett together with a panel of Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross, Rita Ora and Davina McCall.
More masked singers competing in the show this year are Bagpipes, Panda, Chandelier, Mushroom, Lionfish, Snow Leopard, Rockhopper, Poodle, Robobunny, Firework and Traffic Cone.
You can catch up with the series via the ITV website.
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