The joy of is finally back, bringing with it the joy of the most bonkers costumes ever seen on TV.
This year, characters including , , and Dippy Egg are competing in the hope of winning before their identities are uncovered by the panel, who consist of , , and (as well as reigning champ Charlie Simpson in the first episode).
In the first episode, Cricket took to the stage to perform a lively rendition of Reef’s Place Your Hands, and won over the audience in the studio so they weren’t at risk of being eliminated – .
They dropped plenty of fascinating clues in their VT package, as well as in their head-scratching riddle, which they told the panel.
So what did you make of it all? Here’s what we know so far.
What clues are there for Cricket’s identity?
Let’s unpack everything that Cricket has had to say so far to see if there are any glaring clues in there about who they really are…
- When Cricket started talking in their first VT, they had a fairly posh accent – but the panellists deduced it was likely fake
- The singer was shown having ‘gold dust’ applied to them by a makeup artist
- While standing on a cricket pitch, numbers could be seen in the back, including ‘total 60’, a possible reference to their name
- Cricket looks at a newsletter, which includes mention of cricketers ‘Bow Tuffers & moe Wiggo’, the first maybe hinting at Phil Tufnell
- Cricket kept using the word jolly – is that intentional for a reason we’re yet to discover?
- In a riddle given to the panel, Cricket said: ‘I hope my performance was bowling you over, like when I got dizzy while perched on a sofa’.
Who could Cricket on The Masked Singer UK be?
Several big names have already been mentioned concerning Cricket’s identity… and some of them seem like they could have legs.
Levi Roots
After hearing Cricket’s performance of Reef’s Place Your Hands, Mo pointed out an observation that Davina had made, that the singer appeared to sing with a Caribbean twang.
This led the comedian to put forward that Cricket could be musician and TV personality Levi Roots, who gained widespread fame after appearing on Dragons’ Den in 2007, during which he received a £50,000 investment for his Reggae Reggae Sauce.
Given Levi is from Jamaica in the Caribbean, could Mo have made the correct guess?
Jay Blades
Davina pieced together several clues to make her guess, the first of which came right at the beginning of Cricket’s VT, when he was seen having ‘gold dust’ applied to him.
This made the panellist think of ‘stuff you don’t want to throw away’ or things that are ‘too valuable to let go of’, which she linked to the items that people bring on BBC series The Repair Shop, starring furniture restorer Jay Blades.
Davina also noted that Cricket could be acting older than he actually is, and… in a more tenuous link… that he was standing on ‘blades of grass’.
As we’ve discovered on The Masked Singer over the years, no clue is ever too niche.
Stuart Broad
When the score board appeared behind Cricket in the clue video package, Busted singer Charlie took note of particular numbers, thinking that it could indicate that the singer is 6ft5.
Thinking of cricketers that he knows are tall, he landed on Stuard Broad, who just so happens to be extremely tall.
David Gower
Stuart wasn’t the only cricketer mentioned, as Jonathan also brought up David Gower – former captain of the England cricket team – as a possibility.
He pointed out that Cricket carried himself like an old-school gentleman, which felt in keeping with David’s character.
Plus, he spotted the number 60 on the scoreboard in the VT, and assumed that was close to David’s age (who is actually 66).
Vic Reeves
Another guess that Jonathan made about Cricket’s identity was for Vic Reeves, after the masked singer said in a riddle that he ‘got dizzy while perched on a sofa’.
The panellist remembered that Vic released the number one single Dizzy in 1991, from his only ever album, I Will Cure You.
The Masked Singer UK returns on Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
