The Masked Singer's Ne-Yo explains his biggest regret after being unmasked as Badger

The Masked Singer 's Ne-Yo was revealed to be Badger on Saturday night's show with Joss Stone winning as Sausage and Aston Merrygold coming in third as Robin.

Ne-Yo called the show "the time of my life" as he opened up about his experience behind the enormous and adorable Badger costume.

"I’ve been a fan of the show from the start! Really, I just wanted to try and see how far I could go without being identified," he said.

"I’m not the chattiest person, even in my personal life, do, for me it wasn’t terribly difficult to keep the secret at all.

"The secrecy at filming was, to say the least, extreme - I doubt Fort Knox has more security!

"Aside from it being terribly hot, I loved my mask and costume! The Rock n’ Roll Badger has become a part of my life and will forever hold a special place in my heart!

Ne-Yo said he loved his Badger costume but it was boiling hot inside (ITV)

"The costume designers are top notch, they didn’t need any input from me, nor was I going to stand in the way of their genius."

Ne-Yo said he thought the clue packages were well pitched to reveal just enough, though added he actually wanted to make the clues harder.

But when Ne-Yo was unmasked, he noted that judges Rita Ora, Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall and Jonathan Ross were "way off" with their guesses, so he started off trying to disguise his voice and accent but dropped it in the end.

Ne-Yo said the show was "the time of his life" and wished it could have gone on longer (WireImage)

Ne:Yo said his biggest regret from the show was that he could not take the costume to wear with his four children, adding: "I’d wear it to my kids’ birthday party.

"My only real regret is that they never got to see me in the full costume, I know they would’ve loved that."

On leaving the show after so many weeks as Badger, Ne-Yo said: "I must say I was sad to go, mainly because I still didn’t know who anybody was!

Ne-Yo said he wished he could have shown his children the adorable costume (ITV)

"I tell you, they run a super tight ship over there! But I had an absolute blast. Didn’t last long enough."

He continued: "The Masked Singer allowed me one of the greatest opportunities to do so since I first started writing songs for other people.

"To use another element of my voice and body, to literally become this character, it was an experience I won’t soon forget. Eternally grateful.

* The Masked Singer final is available to watch back on ITV Hub