80s icon revealed as winner of The Masked Singer 30 years after biggest hit-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

The Masked Singer UK’s Christmas special winner has been revealed as an 80s music icon (Picture: Kieron McCarron/ ITV)

Frankie Goes to Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson has been unveiled as the winner of The Masked Singer’s Christmas Special.

On tonight’s episode of the annual special, the panel featured Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

They were tasked with guessing which four celebrities were dressed up as Christmas Cracker, Star, Turkey Crown and Nutcracker.

The first two went head-to head, performing a festive song each before the panel threw out some guesses as to who they thought might have been under the masks.

Some of their ideas included Denise Welch, AJ Odudu and Rachel Riley for Christmas Cracker, while they believed Shania Twain, Lulu or S Club 7’s Rachel Stevens could be Star.

However, after the studio audience cast their votes on who to send through, Cracker was unmasked…with This Morning presenter Josie Gibson revealed to be the performer.

Host Joel Dommett with the character, who went up against three others (Picture: Kieron McCarron/ ITV)

It then came time for Turkey Crown and Nutcracker to take to the stage, with the former being voted out.

Some of the panel’s guesses for those two costumes had been Kirstie Allsop, Mary Berry, Judi Love and Vinnie Jones.

However, when the unmasking came for Turkey Crown, it was revealed to be Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse.

A massive surprise was then in store when regular panellist Davina McCall was revealed to be Star.

He was revealed to be Frankie Goes to Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson (Picture: Jim Dyson/ Redferns via Getty Images)

The panel and Joel were shocked after they’d been lead to believe she was unwell and couldn’t compete in the special.

‘You were meant to be sick!’ Joel exclaimed. Meanwhile Jonathan joked: ‘We had no clue you could sing that well.’

After chants of ‘Take It Off’ rang out across the studio, Nutcracker then took off their mask, with Holly revealed as the star underneath.

The panel had believed the star behind the costume could have been Paul Potts, Niall Rodgers or even The Chase host Bradley Walsh.

The first contestant to be eliminated was Christmas Cracker (Picture: ITV)

Holly, 64, first rose to prominence as the lead singer of the pop band, which formed in Liverpool in 1980.

The band was also made up of Paul Rutherford, Mark O’Toole, Brian Nash and Peter Gill, with some of their best known hits being Relax and The Power of Love.

Prior to joining the band, Holly had been a bassist for the band Big in Japan in the 1970s.

Then, in 1989, he released his debut solo album Blast, which reached number one in the UK albums chart.

They were followed by Turkey Crown (Picture: ITV)

Speaking after his win, Holly quipped he now ‘didn’t ever have to do panto’, before launching into a final rendition of Driving Home for Christmas.

Many viewers were excited to see him appear on the show.

‘YES! What a Christmas treat to see Nutcracker unmasked as icon Holly Johnson on The Masked Singer UK. One of my all-time favourite singers, he’s been on my Masked Singer wish list for years. His voice is still as piercing and epic as ever. Fantastic!’ Jon posted on X.

‘Would never ever have guessed Holly Johnson. Fab,’ Stephanie shared.

Regular panellist Davina McCall was unveiled as Star (Picture: ITV)

‘Holly Johnson. Such a beautiful vocal. Well deserved to win,’ Sam added.

Despite the panel not guessing Holly correctly, many watching on at home were convinced it was him as soon as he began singing.

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders were guest panellists on the show (Picture: ITV)

The episode was filled with other surprises too.

Before it came time for Nutcracker to be unveiled, Joel was left speechless yet again by a man dressed with a massive caricature of his face as a mask.

The character then appeared in Joel’s home and alongside his wife Hannah, with the host finding the prank pulled on him absolutely hilarious, before it was eventually revealed his identity would be revealed on the first episode of the next season of the show.

A promo for that also aired, showing new panellist Maya Jama on board, with special guests also including Suranne Jones, Tom Daley, Richard E. Grant and Vicky McClure.

The Masked Singer is streaming on ITVX.

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