The Masked Singer viewers have been left frustrated by a cliffhanger twist added to the show’s format.
The ITV gameshow returned on Saturday night (4 January) with host Joel Dommett, panellists Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan, new judge Maya Jama and guest judge Mo Farah.
The show sees celebrities sing to the audience while disguised in elaborate costumes, as the panel of judges have to decipher their real identities based on their voice and a series of clues.
While the usual format sees one celebrity voted out of the competition at the end of each episode, the first show of the sixth season was structured differently.
Dommett encouraged the crowd to chant “take it off!” as viewers eagerly waited to reveal the identity of Spag Bol – who some fans have guessed could be Good Morning Britain’s Kate Garraway.
But much to the disappointment of viewers at home, Dommett stopped and announced that viewers must wait to find out the identity of Spag Bol during Sunday night’s episode.
“AN HOUR AND HALF OF THIS for NO UNMASKING? What a flamin joke,” said one unimpressed viewer on X/Twitter. “Not taking off the mask in the first show is a cop out. Take that mask off right now!”
“Enduring 90 minutes of that to not even get the reveal at the end,” another added, as one person said: “Masked Singer UK NOT OK!”
In the episode, Dressed Crab, Spag Bol, Snail, Tattoo, Teeth, and King Fisher, all put on showstopping performances.
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However, Spag Bol and Teeth were in the bottom two, and the judges opted to save Teeth.
There was one unveiling at the beginning of the show when the programme finally revealed the identity of Giant Joel – a huge caricature mask of host Dommett – from the Boxing Day episode.
Gilligan guessed it was Mark Wright, while McCall and Jama went for Ant and Dec, but it was Ross who had the correct guess: Olympic running legend Mo Farah, who was then invited to join the panel as a guest judge.
During the episode, viewers guessed that Snail was Nicola Coughlan due to the Bridgerton-style VT aired at the beginning of the show, while the judges guessed names including Emma Willis, Emma Bunton and Mary Berry.
Meanwhile, Kingfisher was guessed by Maya Jama as former England manager Harry Redknapp.
Explaining her thinking, she said: “You are wise, quite mature, a little bit older, maybe?’ You have a career, you’re very successful in it.”
McCall guessed that Kingfisher was Paul Whitehouse, while Ross guessed it could be Chris Packham, or gardener Alan Titchmarsh.
The Masked Singer continues on Sunday night (5 January) at 6.30pm on ITV1.
