Viewers were left in shock when Gareth Malone was unveiled to be the fourth celebrity unmasked on the ITV show The Masked Dancer on Saturday night. The music and choir star, named on the show as Cactus, fooled the judges and viewers as he twirled and twinkle-toed across the stage in a green cactus suit to Too Darn Hot by Cole Porter, only unveiling his true identity once he lost the dance-off to a lion named Pearly King who the judges chose to save.
The programme, presented by Joel Dommett, sees celebrities attempt to baffle, bewilder, and bamboozle the panel – made up of Davina McCall, Strictly Come Dancing pro Oti Mabuse, football legend Peter Crouch, and talk show host Jonathan Ross – and viewers alike with their fancy footwork and dazzling dance moves while concealing their identity through the means of disguise with extravagant and elaborate costumes.
While Cactus was dressed in a wrestling leotard and features – as well as a succulent's body – its pre-dance video clips and performance itself revealed some clues to help the judges attempt to piece together the puzzle. With hints like stars, that the judges saw as representing jungle-based reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! as opposed to his All Star choir, a wedding cake, and references to performing on stage and topping the charts,the judges were convinced the dancer in question was one of three of the four members of successful boyband McFly.
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Jonathon Ross had his money on Dougie Pointer while Davina was adamant it was Tom Fletcher (whose wife Giovanna won I'm a Celeb previously) and Oti hedged her bets on Danny Jones. It was only Peter Crouch who didn't follow suit, guessing Amir Khan thanks to a number of refences about boxing.
But in the end it seems they were all thrown of the scent completely when The Choir choirmaster and broadcaster Gareth took off the Cactus head and revealed it was him. Once unmasked, Gareth, 46, admitted: "I was sick with nerves because I'm so out of my comfort zone and I don't know how to dance."
Viewers were quick to comment on their shock at this result. @ChrisgeenaD took to Twitter to say: "GARETH MALONE?! I did not see that coming. @MaskedSingerUK" User @dh8641 also wrote: "I could have guessed until Christmas and Gareth Malone still wouldn't have entered my mind #themaskeddancer".
Meanwhile @HannahVCW commented saying: "Wtf cactus had me FOOLED!! #TheMaskedDancer #MaskedDancerUK" alongside @ShakyWoon who said: "Cactus is: Gareth Malone! Wooooooowwwwwww! #TheMaskedDancer #MaskedDancerUK."
Gareth became the fourth celebrity to be unmasked following in the footsteps of Stacey Dooley as Prawn Cocktail, Gavin &Stacey's Joanna Page as Pig, and actor Jesse Metcalfe as Atronaut.
The Masked Dancer continues on Saturday, October 1. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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