‘The only judge I trust is Davina!'

Jonathan Ross chats to TV Times about strategies, secrets and singing traffic cones…

- STEVEN PERKINS

THE MASKED SINGER

SATURDAY / ITV / 7PM / EP 6 of 8 / ENTERTAINMENT

Fake accents, dubious claims, and confusing clue packages are among the tricksy tactics being used by the secret celebrities in ITV's hit The Masked Singer this year.

But their dedicated efforts haven’t always thrown star detective Jonathan Ross off the scent. At the time of writing, the talk-show host, who has sharpened his guessing game for series three, has correctly identified Loose Women panelist Gloria Hunniford as Snow Leopard, and singer Will Young as Lionfish.

TV Times caught up with Jonathan, 61, for an exclusive video interview to talk surprise reveals…

Well done on your excellent detective work so far! What’s the secret of your recent success?

Well, partly it’s that the producers said to me, ‘We all like your silly guesses, but do you actually want to try to get some right?!’

I assumed I was there for the silly guesses, because I do try to get them right, but I like accusing everyone of being Mary Berry!

So I said, ‘OK, I’m going to up my game for you guys, and focus more on the clues and the voices.’

What were the giveaways for you with Gloria and Will?

The clues said Snow Leopard worked with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn. So I started thinking a bit laterally, with the idea that it was maybe a journalist or a TV interviewer.