The Masked Singer judges were open-mouthed as John Thomson was revealed as the singing voice behind Bush Baby.
They were amazed that the Walkden-born actor and comic had for weeks been concealed beneath the cuddly costume on the ITV guessing game.
And they were kicking themselves to realise that his latest performance, of the Engelbert Humperdinck hit song Please Release Me, was a major clue.
It was the theme song to the BBC sketch show The Fast Show.
The show ran from 1994 to 2001 and John played characters including jazz club host Louis Balfour with the catchphrase 'Nice!'
Judge Davina McCall commented that it was 'so nice' to have a celebrity unmasked whose masked identity they hadn't worked out.
John, 51, who played children's entertainer Jesse Chadwick in Corrie and has played loveable Pete Gifford in the Manchester-based drama Cold Feet since 1998, joked about hiding behind the over-sized furry costume under studio lights.
"As a northerner who doesn't feel the cold? It's not been the greatest," he said.
And he quipped: "At the end of this there's a job for me at Disney."
John made it to the fifth episode of the secretive singing show and he said it was quite hard to keep it quiet.
"The only people who knew were my partner, my ex-wife and my agent who booked me on the show," he said.
He added: "Secrecy when filming was major, we were picked up by the driver who had signed an NDA and as we drew closer to the studio we had to don a mask, gloves and a sweatshirt with don't speak to me on it so nobody could guess our identity.
"Trips from the dressing room to studio also incorporated full disguise."
The Masked Singer, ITV, Saturdays at 7pm
