Everything we know so far about The Masked Singer’s Pufferfish (Picture: Katelyn Mensah/ITV)
With the new year comes the latest season of The Masked Singer, which is back with a fresh batch of celebrities singing from beneath outlandish costumes.
Running since 2020 in the UK, previous winners of the show include Nicola Roberts, Charlie Simpson and Danny Jones – coincidentally, all singers in chart-topping groups.
The fun of the format involves contestants being concealed by giant costumes – with their speaking voices disguised during VTs – so a panel of judges only has how they sound singing, and a series of cryptic clues, to work out their possible identity.
On the premiere episode, six took to the stage – Dressed Crab, Kingfisher, Snail, Tattoo, Teeth and Spag Bol, who became the first to be eliminated.
Sunday’s show then introduced us to the remaining six – Pufferfish, Bush, Bear, Pegasus, Toad in the Hole and Wolf, with Spag Bol and Pegasus then unmasked and sent home.
Trying to uncover their identities was the panel of Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross and Maya Jama, this time joined by guest judge, Line of Duty star Vicky McClure.
Here’s everything we know about Pufferfish so far.
Pufferfish performed a Chappell Roan song on the second episode of the series (Picture: Bandicoot TV/ITV)
What clues are there for Pufferfish’s identity?
A rubber spider was shown in close-up on her hairbrush, with the panel thinking this could suggest a link to I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
‘The Empire State is just too hard to miss out on.’
Pufferfish catches an American football in the VT, which was one of a few clues that had the judges suspecting she is from the US
Seen throwing a pair of dice that land on a five and six, suggesting a possible link with a game show
‘It runs in the family’ appears to hint at famous relatives
Shown squashing a rubber chicken with her blue platform boot
‘You were great’ written on a bunch of flowers signed by ‘SJP’, which the judges linked with actress Sarah Jessica Parker
The performance was a confident rendition of Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe!
Riddle: ‘Being puffed up all day can feel so excessive, sometimes being small is just as impressive.’
Who could Pufferfish on The Masked Singer be?
Hayden Panettiere
Us star Hayden Panettiere was a guess from Davina McCall (Picture: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
Davina was convinced that Pufferfish could be US actress Hayden Panettiere.
She pointed to the star’s all-American role as a cheerleader on hit TV show Heroes, as well as her having previously proved her pipes on the soapy musical series Nashville.
The 35-year-old’s late brother, Jansen, was also an actor who appeared on episodes of Blue’s Clues, Everybody Hates Chris and The Walking Dead.
Nicole Richie
Maya Jama reckoned Pufferfish could be Nicole Richie (Picture: James Devaney/GC Images)
Maya’s guess was linked to a mention of ‘dancing on the ceiling’, which led her to guess Nicole Richie.
Nicole’s very famous father, Lionel Richie, had a hit song with that title, with Maya also picking up on the ‘it runs in the family’ link.
Stacey Solomon
Although most judges reckoned Pufferfish was American, Mo Gilligan guessed Stacey Solomon (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Mo reckoned that the spider shown in Pufferfish’s VT was definitely linked to I’m a Celebrity.
As Pufferfish also showed off an impressively powerful voice, he thinks the surprise star could be former X Factor finalist and TV presenter Stacey Solomon.
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne was a strong guess given she has previously duetted with her dad, Ozzy (Picture: Getty)
Guest judge Vicky made a good suggestion with Kelly Osbourne.
Again, she fits the family comment thanks to her famous father, Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy Osbourne, and TV star mother Sharon.
She said she was also ‘catching the vibe they love the UK but they live in America’, which also fits in with Brit Kelly.
Guesses on social media have thrown further names into the ring to be considered, from Britney Spears’ sister Jamie Lynn Spears, who previously appeared on I’m A Celeb, to Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards.
Others have also suggested Ashley Roberts, with the consensus that the hidden celebrity is a singer.
The Masked Singer airs each weekend on ITV1 and ITVX.
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