The Masked Singer panel in shock shake-up as judge forced to step down – and his replacements are revealed
THE MASKED Singer panel will undergo a shock shake-up this series as one of the judges was forced to step down through a schedule clash.
New panellist Maya Jama was already recruited to replace Rita Ora as the pop star had to commit to filming the American version of the show at the same time.
Now The Sun can reveal that comedian Mo Gilligan had to duck out because he had tour dates to cover in the US.
ITV has lined up two big names to replace Mo for the episodes, though.
Celebrated actor Richard E Grant will cover the February 8 episode, whilst last year’s winner Danny Jones is in for the final on February 15.
The series has already attracted other huge guest judges including Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, actress Suranne Jones and Vicky McClure, plus Olympian Tom Daley.
The McFly star was crowned the winner of The Masked Singer UK in the fifth season of the singing competition.
Danny, who hails from Bolton in Greater Manchester, has been performing with the band since 2003.
After several performances and much speculation the star was revealed to be Piranha.
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He blew the panel, audience and viewers away with his sensational cover of Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" in the final.
Discussing his victory at the time, Danny told host Joel Dommett: ''I’ve had the most amazing time, I can escape behind here and just be Piranha and sing these songs.
"I’ve learnt so much, I’m able to sing higher now just from being on this show. I am so happy, thank you!''
In addition to his success on stage, Danny has also enjoyed several stints on-screen, participating in popular television competitions such as I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, where he took the crown as King of the jungle.
Richard E Grant is a British actor, screenwriter and director known for his roles in Withnail and I (1987), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), and Star Wars: Episode IX (2019).
Grant also appeared in the sixth season of the hit television series Game of Thrones.
His other television roles include Frasier (2004), A Series of Unfortunate Events (2019) and Suspect (2022).
Meanwhile, viewers think that the voice behind the fuzzy bear in the current series may be Chaser, Shaun Wallace of ITV's The Chase.
An eagle eared viewer said: “Just gonna throw out Shaun Wallace as a rando guess for Bear.”
Another used his Chaser name from the ITV gameshow to put his name in the mix: “Dark destroyer from the chase as the bear? #MaskedSingerUK"
Once the name out there others seemed to jump on the idea with one TikTok viewer saying “Shaun Wallace The Chase” and got a flurry of replies like “I can hear this now!” and “Only heard the first few words and that was already my guess.”
The Masked Singer airs Saturdays on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.