Stone me! Joss unmasked as the champion sausage singer
IT’S a wrap – or more of an unwrap! After weeks of speculation, Joss Stone was last night revealed as ‘Sausage’ as she was named the winner of ITV’s The Masked Singer.
The show’s legion of fans had guessed that the performer posing as a hot dog and chips in a cone was actress Sheridan Smith or I’m A Celebrity winner Stacey Solomon, among many others.
But Devon-born singer-songwriter Joss emerged as the mystery performer as she clinched the contest with versions of the Whitney Houston hit I Wanna Dance With Somebody and Andra Day’s Rise Up.
Joss, 33, who was a guest at the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, beat US rapper Ne-Yo – dressed as a badger – and former boyband singer Aston Merrygold, who performed as a robin.
The winner was revealed at the end of The Masked Singer’s eightweek run, which had featured other contestants including pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor, television presenter Sue Perkins and singer Gabrielle.
Miss Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which has recorded 15million sales.
The Masked Singer, which launched with its first series in January last year, was brought in by ITV as part of the channel’s move towards ‘kind television’ after years of more brutal reality shows such as the X Factor and Love Island.
Bosses are thought to be thrilled with how the programme has been received, regularly attracting more than seven million viewers. It comes as there is increasing speculation that one of the show’s panel, Rita Ora, won’t be returning to the show next year after two breaches of lockdown rules. Sources close to ITV say Miss Ora’s drop in popularity after she flew to Egypt for a corporate gig and didn’t isolate afterwards – instead holding an illegal party to celebrate her 30th birthday with 30 friends – meant she could lose the role. She is reportedly paid £1 million per series. One said: ‘Rita has long been the clean-cut girl, sexy and fun but safe with a very good reputation. Since her misdemeanours, though, her currency has changed.
‘Some would say she is just not as likeable any more and with The Masked Singer being such a family show, likeability is extremely important.’
Miss Ora, 30, will not be on the panel for the programme’s sister series The Masked Dancer, which has been drafted in to replace Britain’s Got Talent. She is being replaced by Strictly professional Oti Mabuse.