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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Katie Fitzpatrick

The Swan's identity revealed as former EastEnders star on The Masked Singer

Fans of The Masked Singer were in for a big surprise when Swan was revealed to be star of stage and screen.

The masked characters Swan and Sausage found themselves in the bottom two of the zany ITV singing show with the panel choosing to save Sausage. 

And there was a shock when the Swan was unmasked as a former EastEnders favourite.

Martine McCutcheon, who played barmaid Tiffany Mitchell in the BBC soap from 1995 to 1999, wowed viewers with her singing voice as she belted out the sultry Alannah Myles hit Black Velvet.

Martine McCutcheon is Swan (ITV)

The judges and viewers at home had to guess who was singing beneath the elaborate costume and many suspected that Swan might have been a Pussycat Doll.

"I had no idea Martine McCutcheon could sing like that!!!!!" gasped one fan on Twitter.

"Would never have guessed Martine McCutcheon was the Swan," said another.

Martine in EastEnders as Tiffany (BBC)

"Wow! Never ever would have guessed Martine McCutcheon. Loved that reveal, my little girl was screaming," tweeted another fan.

"Martine McCutcheon was a surprise," said another viewer.

Another fan commented that Martine, who had a number one hit with the song Perfect Moment after EastEnders, is the third female singer so far in the second series to get voted home.

"How have Sophie Ellis Bexter, Mel B and now Martine McCutcheon all been eliminated in a row?" they asked.

Martine, 44, who went on to win a Laurence Olivier Award in 2002 for her stage role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and played the Prime Minister's tea lady Natalie in the film Love Actually, says she decided to take part in The Masked Singer because after lockdown she missed performing live thought it would be fun to perform in disguise.

"It’s liberating to take on a whole new persona," she said.

And she says the secrecy element was taken very seriously.

"I’ve never known anything quite like it," she said. "From the moment we left our house we had to wear a disguise and it felt like I was going to rob a bank haha!

"It was so well organised, not once did I see another contestant which made it even more exciting but also quite frustrating as I was dying to know who everyone was.

The Masked Singer is screened on ITV, Saturdays at 7pm.

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