He's my mentor, the same humour and can handle my sarcasm

RITA Ora and Jonathan Ross have lifted the mask to reveal their close friendship both on and off the set of ITV hit The Masked Singer.

- MARK JEFFERIES

JONATHAN ON RITA:

She’s a great singer who is grafting all the time

Singer Rita, 33, says TV presenter Jonathan, 63, has been her mentor since she started out in the industry more than a decade ago.

She explains: "Me and Jonathan just have the same sense of humour.

"Jonathan's always been there for me since the beginning of my career and he's been such a great influence on me.

"I think with that comes this light-heartedness between us, along with a level of trust.

"It feels really nice to have somebody that can handle my sarcasm. At the same time, he knows that deep down he's one of my mentors and he's always going to be that person to me.

"It is just nice to have somebody that has experience, to just put everything into perspective for you.

"I think when you're overwhelmed by something, it's really interesting to hear from someone who has been through it, that really gets it, and has clear advice on what you need to do. His advice is really practical. It's amazing.

The pair, alongside Davina McCall and Mo Gilligan, return to the judging panel for the fifth series of The Masked Singer, which begins tonight. But their working relationship started in 2012 when Rita - fresh from her breakthrough hit Hot Right Now appeared on Jonathan's chat show.

Jonathan says: "I still do the talk show on ITV1 and I'll be doing that again in February. And the most fun thing about it for me is meeting the new talent, and maybe sharing my enthusiasm for new stars in different fields with an audience.