The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett left himself stunned after mistakenly revealing the identity of a Christmas special star.
The TV host, 40, may have hosted the ITV reality series for six years but even he is prone to a slip-up every now and then.
In a show where the famous faces must stay incognito through the guise of outlandish costumes for as long as possible as they belt their hearts out on stage to the judges – Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan and Maya Jama – a premature reveal is truly disastorous.
The upcoming special, which airs on Boxing Day, features just that as a stricken Joel admitted in a new interview.
Taking to the stage later this month are the festive themed characters, Santa’s Sack, Goose A-Laying, Figgy Pudding and Mistletoe, although for one of them the jig is already up.
Clearly an expert at the game by now, when the comedian heard Mistletoe’s instantly recognisable chuckle, he named them out loud without even thinking.
He realised the rookie error too late as the live studio audience burst into laughter and he sunk to the floor red-faced – later getting into a spot of trouble with the ITV bosses.
‘I can’t believe I did it,’ he told The Sun.
He continued: ‘This person was chuckling in the costume and it’s a chuckle I know well and I said their name. It just came out. Their actual name!’
Luckily, his faux-pas didn’t derail the proceedings too much, as he explained.
‘Thankfully, [the judges] had pretty much guessed who it was. But producers did reiterate to me that I wasn’t to do that again. I was on the naughty step,’ he said.
The whole debacle will be included in the Boxing Day special, but until then Joel and the rest are keeping a tight lip on exactly who the unmasked Mistletoe is.
The show is used to its fair share of shocking moments.
At the start of this year, one of the contestants, Toad in the Hole, stormed off stage before revealing themselves as R&B legend Macy Gray in what fans called an ‘excruciating watch’.
Reflecting on the incident later, Joel told Fearne Cotton on BBC Radio 2: ‘It was so awkward.’
And shared a moment that viewers at home didn’t get to see, much to his despair.
Recalling his commentary as ‘it’s Macy Gray everybody… she said goodbye – and she croaked,’ he added: ‘They cut it out. I’m absolutely livid about that,’ he joked. ‘Might be the funniest I have ever been.’
The Masked Singer Christmas Special will air on Boxing Day at 7.30pm on ITV1.
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