Davina McCall stormed off Masked Singer after close friend was unmasked

The Masked Singer UK is only days away from returning to ITV for its fifth series.

Host Joel Dommett welcomes back a panel of Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross, Mo Gilligan and Rita Ora for another head-scratching musical guessing game as they attempt to identify who's behind: Owl, Weather, Air Fryer, Dippy Egg, Bigfoot, Bubble Tea, Chicken Caesar, Rat, Piranha, Maypole, Eiffel Tower and Cricket this time around.

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Teasing one particularly frustrating unmasking, McCall revealed to The Sun ahead of the opening episode: "The funny thing was that all of us have met this one character. We were kicking ourselves. They did very, very, very well in fooling us all. We all should have got them, all of us. No excuses, really."

McCall, who didn't come back for this year's Big Brother reboot, went on to add: "I just couldn't help myself storming off when I saw who the person was. There have been many people on the show who I have met in passing, but this was a real friend, someone I have known for years. It's embarrassing. It was, I think, the greatest surprise I've ever had."

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It comes as Gilligan revealed secrets behind show during his appearance on This Morning. The TV judge insisted that they do not know who the celebrities are behind the mask.

"I get the same feeling the people at home get – you don't know who is going to be on and who is going to be singing and at the end of the show, you get a reveal," he told Rylan and Emma Willis. "We don't know who it is. People still think we know who it is. I get taxi drivers, friends, family, who say you know who it is. I still don't know who is behind the mask."

"It is so so secretive. We go in at different ends of the building," he explained. "I think that's what people love about the show. People play at home, they get their notebooks. It's a fun show." Not knowing all adds to the drama of the show, Gilligan said.

"That's the craziest thing of the show, you never know who it is going to be," he explained. "It could be someone you know or it could just be a legend you never thought you would get to meet."

The Masked Singer UK premieres this Saturday (30 December) at 7pm on ITV1.

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