Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Singing in mask was worse than childbirth
THE Harlequin normally provides theatrical giggles, but dressing up as one was no laughing matter for Masked Singer star Gabrielle.
The soul star – who was revealed on last night’s show – said wearing the bulky costume was even worse than childbirth.
She admits she had to fight off panic attacks as she wowed judges with renditions of Rihanna’s Diamonds, Nat King Cole’s Smile, Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car and Falling, by Harry Styles.
Gabrielle, 50, admits the show was an “incredible experience”.
But of the costume, she groans: “I got really scared, like a big baby. The mask is heavy – nothing prepares you for the panic. I was getting panic attacks.
“It’s one thing to do rehearsals, then you put it on and I was terrified. It was so hot.
“I didn’t realise I had a fear of closed spaces until they put the mask on me.
“I was having kittens, I couldn’t breathe. You have to sing a song and your mouth is so dry.
SCARED
“They walk you down a ramp, and they say you have to sing. And I was saying, ‘I can’t, I can’t’.
“In the end, I had to do the walk to the stage in two parts and I had people holding three fans up to my face to keep me cool.
“I didn’t know if I was going to survive, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it. I had to fight through many things.
“It was challenging but it was amazing. I was scared all the time but then, when you watch the other singers on TV, they are flawless.
“For me, giving birth was easier. The panic attacks, the heat, the costume… it was all so hard. But it was also incredible.”
Many viewers online recognised Gabrielle’s voice – and her daughter rumbled her too.
Gabrielle says: “I thought I was doing a great job at masking my voice, but clearly not. You have a vocal coach. They try and say, ‘Can that be a bit less Gabrielle-ish’.
“For Diamonds, they wanted me to be posh and for Fast Car they wanted me, not Cockney, but a Lily Allen vibe.
“I was like, ‘I can’t do that. It’s just not me!’ But I did try.
“When I listened to Diamonds I thought, ‘I wasn’t meant to sound like that’.”
Londoner Gabrielle said the pre-recorded show was run like “a military operation” with 12-hour days. And she could only
As the mask went on, I’d have panic attacks... it was so hot, terrifying!
reveal the fact she was in the programme to her 25-year-old son – which meant keeping it a secret from her daughter, who is 17. Gabrielle says: “My daughter didn’t know anything about it.
“I watched the first show on my own and then people were sending her performance clips of me and then she came down to speak to me. She said, “Mum, I know your voice’. And I was like, ‘No, it’s not me’. She was saying, ‘I’m not three, I’m taller than you, I know your voice’! “People were trying to guess. When people ask, I ignore them and go on to the next question.
SECRECY
“I pretend it hasn’t even been mentioned. There is so much secrecy, you are not allowed to come out of your dressing room in case you see someone.
“You are not allowed to speak in case people hear your voice. When you get to the studios, you are not allowed to have any skin on show. There are only a few people allowed to talk to you.”
Gabrielle says she got to choose her own costume and admits she could never have been Sausage, who is yet to be revealed.
She was also offered Blob – eventually taken by comedy star Sir Lenny Henry.
Gabrielle says: “I could never have been a sausage, I’m more of a hamburger.
“I think Blob or Dragon was originally suggested to me. But then they showed me Harlequin and I was like, ‘Yep, love that’.” In
GABRIELLE REVEALING HER COSTUME ORDEAL
December, after filming had finished, Gabrielle was struck down by Covid and stayed home for weeks – which at least meant she avoided further questioning from curious fans.
She says: “Christmas was a wipeout for me. I wasn’t hospitalised but I got through it, even though it took a while.
“The headaches were the worst. I didn’t want to go out at all and it’s only a week ago that I left the house.
“People just need to keep as safe as they can because it’s a horrible thing to have. Everyone has just got to play their part.”
Masked Singer star Rita Ora – one of the judges to guess Gabrielle’s voice
– was recently fined £10,000 for breaking lockdown rules to hold her 30th birthday bash.
Gabrielle – who wears a patch because she suffers from the “drooping eye” condition Ptosis – shot to fame with the single Dreams in 1993.
She had a string of pop and soul hits including Sunshine, Give Me A Little More Time and If You Ever, a duet with East 17.
Now she is releasing a new album, called Do It Again. It is dedicated to The Masked Singer and will include many of the hits she sang on the ITV show.
It also features two new tracks, including upcoming single Stop Right Now. And after the pandemic put paid to live concerts for much of 2020, Gabrielle can’t wait to go on tour in November.
She says: “I love performing and this has been such a special
time for me. I was actually going to do a new album of all new songs but by the time I had done the show, I loved doing these covers.
“It was a no-brainer, an album of covers and new songs.”
OPPORTUNITY
Gabrielle admits Stop Right Now is “about stepping away from a relationship for a little while to save it” – but she can’t reveal who it is about.
She adds: “All of the songs I write are about things that happened to me.”
Despite “getting a taste for TV” on The Masked Singer, Gabrielle won’t be doing other reality TV shows any time
soon. “This show gave me the opportunity to sing, which is what I do. You won’t be seeing me sharing toilets on I’m A Celebrity. Hell no. You can see me on tour,” she says chirpily.
Last night, Gabrielle was among the millions who tuned in to watch her own exit, sitting with her children and enjoying a pink gin and tonic.
She’s not sorry to see the back of the Harlequin costume, but says of the show: “It is fabulous and considering what a year everyone has had, this will be the most amazing memory for me.”