The gig's up for Dippy Egg and Maypole
The Masked Singer UK treated viewers to a double elimination last night (February 4th).
Maypole, Cricket, Dippy Egg, Bigfoot, Air Fryer, Eiffel Tower and Piranha all performed for judges Rita Ora, Lenny Henry, Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross and Davina McCall.
The masked contestants performed a range of beloved tunes, but sadly it was time for two of the singers to depart the competition.
Presenter Joel Dommett revealed that viewers would be saying goodbye to Dippy Egg, who was unmasked as presenter and journalist Nicky Campbell.
The identity of Maypole was also revealed, with the mystery singer unmasked as Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton.
Having taken off his Dippy Egg head, BBC Radio presenter Campbell was greeted by an emotional McCall, who has worked with him on Long Lost Family since 2009.
"That was quite something, wasn't it? She had no idea!" he said, as his colleague declared: "This is the best surprise, better than any birthday. I love this man!
"Nicky's a friend, we've been working together for thirteen years and I can not believe I didn't recognise your voice, I didn't recognise your singing voice. I know your singing voice. This is insane!"
Names like Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, astronomer Brian Cox and Outnumbered's Hugh Dennis had all previously been suggested by the judges.
Speaking after his elimination, Campbell said that secretly performing in front of McCall was "emotional".
"It was incredible. I was emotional all the way through just trying to see her through the mask," he said. "Each performance, I could just sort of make her out, and I was thinking, 'it's so near, yet so far away!'"
Thornton also managed to avoid being correctly identified, with fellow singers Janelle Monáe, Katy B and bandmate Kimberley Wyatt being guessed.
After McCall pinpointed a moment from last week's episode where a telling flourish caught her eye, Thornton replied: "I appreciate you saying that actually because I'm not a trained dancer, I am the only [Pussycat Doll] that was not a trained dancer or trained singer, so I got into the group like... just Cinderella story."
The star revealed following her elimination that she "loved" the fact that some of the panel had previously suspected that she was judge Rita Ora, while she was also pleased to have some of her bandmates suggested.
"Two of my bandmates were mentioned, which actually I was like, 'Yes. Good. Yeah, go that way.' Even though it's too close," she said. "When you've been in a group, you'll always be a part of that."
Next week's semi-final episode will feature Lorraine Kelly as a guest panellist, following her unmasking as Owl.
The Masked Singer returns for its semi-final next Saturday (February 10) on ITV1 and ITVX.
