The fifth series of the British version of The Masked Singer premiered on ITV on 30 December 2023, following a Christmas special episode on 25 December. Joel Dommett returned as the show's presenter, whilst Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall, Rita Ora and Jonathan Ross returned as panellists. The series is the second in a two-year commissioning by ITV.
The series was won by singer Danny Jones as "Piranha", whilst TV presenter Alex Brooker finished second as "Bigfoot" and singer Lemar finished third as "Cricket".
Production The commissioning of the fifth series was announced by ITV in February 2022, alongside the fourth series as part of a two-year contract. Filming for the series took place in October 2023 at Bovingdon Studios in Hertfordshire, with the public being invited to apply for tickets to be in the audience. The series began airing on 30 December 2023, following the show's first Christmas special episode that aired on 25 December and as in second series, would begin prior to the New Year.
Panellists and host
Prior to the series airing, it was announced that Joel Dommett would return as presenter, with Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Rita Ora and Mo Gilligan all returning to the panel. However, owing to Ora's scheduling conflicts with the eleventh season of the American version, in which she replaced Nicole Scherzinger, it was confirmed that Charlie Simpson, who won the previous series as "Rhino", Olly Murs and Jennifer Saunders would serve as guest panellists in her place for three episodes, with Simpson in the season premiere, Murs in the third episode and Saunders in the fourth episode. Ellie Goulding served as a guest panellist in the fifth episode. Lenny Henry, who appeared in the second series as "Blob", served as a guest panellist in the sixth episode. Lorraine Kelly, who was revealed as "Owl" in the fifth episode, served as a guest panellist in the semi-final. Rob Brydon served as a guest panellist in the final.
Contestants The twelve costumes for the fifth series were released on 10 December 2023. Stage name Celebrity Occupation Episodes12345678 Piranha Danny Jones SingerWINSAFESAFESAFESAFE WINNER Bigfoot Alex Brooker TV presenterWINSAFESAFESAFESAFE Cricket Lemar SingerWINSAFESAFESAFESAFE THIRD Eiffel Tower Tiffany SingerWINSAFERISKRISKOUT Air Fryer Keala Settle Actress/singerWINSAFESAFESAFEOUT Maypole Melody Thornton SingerRISKSAFESAFEOUT Dippy Egg Nicky Campbell TV presenterRISKRISKSAFEOUT Owl Lorraine Kelly TV presenterRISKRISKOUT Bubble Tea Julia Sawalha ActressRISKOUT Rat Shirley Ballas DancerWINOUT OUT Weather Dionne Warwick SingerOUT
Episodes Episode 1 (30 December) Guest panelist: Charlie Simpson (in place of Rita Ora) + Performances on the first episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Maypole "Never Gonna Not Dance Again" by Pink RISK 2 Cricket "Place Your Hands" by Reef WIN 3 Bigfoot "You're Welcome" from Moana WIN 4 "Daydream Believer" by The Monkees RISK 5 Weather "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash OUT 6 Rat "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" by Vengaboys WIN
Episode 2 (6 January) + Performances on the second episode # Stage name Song Identity Result 1 Air Fryer "Kings & Queens" by Ava Max WIN 2 Bubble Tea "Material Girl" by Madonna RISK 3 Owl "Padam Padam" by Kylie Minogue RISK 4 Eiffel Tower "Voulez-Vous" by ABBA WIN 5 "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers OUT 6 Piranha "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion WIN
Episode 3 (13 January) Theme: Circus Group number: "Let Go for Tonight" by Foxes Guest panelist: Olly Murs (in place of Rita Ora) +Performances on the third episode # Stage name Song Result 1 Dippy Egg "There's No Business Like Show Business" by Irving BerlinRISK 2 Maypole "Clown" by Emeli SandéSAFE 3 Bigfoot "Come Fly With Me" by Frank SinatraSAFE 4 Cricket "Of the Night" by BastilleSAFE 5 Rat "Nellie the Elephant" by Mandy MillerRISKSing-Off Identity Result 1 Rat "Y.M.C.A." by Village People OUT 2 Dippy Egg "Shotgun" by George Ezra SAFE
Episode 4 (20 January) Theme: School Disco Group number: "Live While We're Young" by One Direction Guest panelist: Jennifer Saunders (in place of Rita Ora) +Performances on the fourth episode # Stage name Song Result 1 Piranha "Treasure" by Bruno MarsSAFE 2 "Angels" by Robbie WilliamsSAFE 3 Owl "Don't Stop Movin" by S Club 7RISK 4 Bubble Tea "Le Freak" by ChicRISK 5 Air Fryer "The Final Countdown" by EuropeSAFESing-Off Identity Result 1 Owl "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle of the Road SAFE 2 Bubble Tea "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes OUT
Episode 5 (27 January) Guest panelist: Ellie Goulding +Performances on the fifth episode#Stage nameClue songIdentityResult 1 "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus RISK 2 Dippy Egg "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers SAFE 3 Cricket "How Deep Is Your Love" by Calvin Harris & Disciples SAFE 4 Owl "Happy Talk" by Captain Sensible OUT 5 Piranha "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" by Michael Bolton SAFE 6 Bigfoot "Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger ft. Craig David SAFE 7 Air Fryer "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music SAFE 8 Maypole "Sweet Melody" by Little Mix SAFE
Episode 6 (3 February) Guest panelist: Lenny Henry +Performances on the sixth episode#Stage nameSongIdentityResult 1 Maypole "Let You Love Me" by Rita Ora OUT 2 Cricket “Antenna” by Fuse ODG SAFE 3 Dippy Egg "Moon River" by Andy Williams Nicky Campbell OUT 4 Bigfoot "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon SAFE 5 Air Fryer "Defying Gravity" from Wicked SAFE 6 "Stay" by Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko RISK 7 Piranha "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson SAFE
Episode 7: Semi-final (10 February) Guest panelist: Lorraine Kelly +First performances on the seventh episode#Stage nameSongIdentityResult 1 "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses SAFE 2 Bigfoot "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by Backstreet Boys SAFE 3 Piranha "Without You" by Harry Nilsson SAFE 4 Air Fryer "I'm Outta Love" by Anastacia OUT 5 Cricket "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt SAFE
+Second performances on the seventh episode#Stage nameSongIdentityResult 1 Bigfoot "Never Forget" by Take That SAFE 2 "Castle on the Hill" by Ed Sheeran TiffanyOUT 3 Piranha "In the Name of Love" by Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha SAFE 4 Cricket "As It Was" by Harry Styles SAFE
After being unmasked, Tiffany performed her cover of "I Think We're Alone Now" as her encore.
Episode 8: Final (17 February) Group number: "By Your Side" by Calvin Harris ft. Tom Grennan Guest panelist: Rob Brydon +First performances on the eighth episode#Stage name Song 1 Cricket "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton 2 Bigfoot "The One and Only" by Chesney Hawkes 3 Piranha "Lay Me Down" by Sam Smith
+Second performances on the eighth episode#Stage name SongDuet partner IdentityResult 1 Cricket "Rewrite the Stars" from The Greatest Showman Charlotte Church (Mushroom) Lemar THIRD PLACE 2 Bigfoot "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richie Ricky Wilson (Phoenix) SAFE 3 Piranha "Believe" by Cher Natalie Appleton (Fawn) SAFE
+Third performances on the eighth episode#Stage nameSong of the seriesIdentityResult 1 Bigfoot "You're Welcome" from Moana Alex Brooker 2 Piranha "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion WINNER
Ratings Official ratings are taken from BARB, utilising the four-screen dashboard which includes viewers who watched the programme on laptops, smartphones, and tablets within 7 days of the original broadcast.
EpisodeDateOfficial 7 day rating(millions)Weekly rankfor ITVWeekly rankfor all UK TV1 4.55 6 232 5.19 6 143 4.72 4 124 4.44 6 145 4.42 4 126 4.90 4 117 4.77 3 118 5.54 3 8Series average 2023/2024 4.81 colspan="2"
References