Shirley Ballas smells a Rat on The Masked Singer

The Circus came to town on ITV’s The Masked Singer last night…

In the latest instalment of the entertainment series characters Maypole, Cricket, Bigfoot, Rat and Dippy Egg continued to wow and amaze with their show-stopping performances. The panel on Saturday night’s show saw Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan and guest panellist Olly Murs try to guess the famous personalities in disguise.

Rat became the third character to be unmasked as dance star and Strictly Come Dancing Head Judge Shirley Ballas. Talking about the panel’s guesses Shirley said: “I was very flattered actually because I just don’t sing at all and some of the people that you were saying, was like Wow!  It was one of the best times of my life.  It was way out of my comfort zone and I totally loved it.”   

When Olly Murs asked about the clue relating to tattoos Shirlie explained, “(I have tattoos) all over my backside!  And I tattooed my boyfriend’s name on it, not sure that was a good idea!”

Next week’s The Masked Singer heads back to school with its very own School Disco. The guest panellist is actress and comedian Jennifer Saunders. The characters taking to the stage hoping they can fool the panel and viewers at home will be Air Fryer, Bubble Tea, Owl, Eiffel Tower and Piranha.

Kricket, Weather, Marypole, Bigfoot, Egg & Rat

What made you do The Masked Singer?

I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and see exactly if I could sing a little bit, could I hold a tune or was I just drastically bad!?

What do you think of the panel’s guesses?

I thought the guesses from the panel were actually rather spectacular. They compared me to actors and singers, all sorts, and never got any of the clues! I was very surprised about Jonathan. I mean, Jonathan’s a friend of mine. I’ve been on his shows and we’ve talked about Kilimanjaro, some of those clues he should have known and he didn’t get it! They were so off, they called me some amazing singers and actors! I’ll take that!

Do you think being a dancer helped with your performance?

I think being a dancer helped me with the rhythm, so I was able to not miss too many lines and I was able to tap it out so I could stay in tune.

Chicken Ceasar, Air Fryer, Bubble Tea, Owl, Piranha & Eiffel Tower

What’s the best and worst thing about performing in the costume?

The worst part of performing in the costume is the head gets very hot, it feels quite claustrophobic. The best thing is that I’ve fallen in love with Rat and actually don’t want to leave him. I want him to be in my house! He’s a character I will hold close to my heart forever. I enjoyed my journey with Rat!

What was your favourite thing about performing as Rat?

My favourite thing about performing as Rat was that the costume allowed me to dance, and I loved the way I was able to move my body!

Who do you think will be most surprised?

I think the whole nation will be totally surprised to see it’s me because the character is not the most feminine character, I could have gone with one of the beautiful gowns but I chose to go with a Rat! I’ll be surprised if anyone gets it at all!

The Masked Singer, Saturdays at 7pm on ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player