Identity parade — the latest theories about ‘The Masked Singer’ UK contestants

After episode two unmasked Gloria Hunniford as the Snow Leopard in The Masked Singer UK season 3, theories are abounding about who the other five celebrity contestants are in this division of the hit ITV series.

Gloria joined singer Heather Small AKA Chandelier as the early casualties of season 3, but let’s examine the theories for the remaining five masked singers in Gloria’s division:

• Panda is former Mis-Teeq singer and Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon, according to many fans on social media.

 Some are, in fact, certain it’s her. “Alesha Dixon is 100% Panda…. You heard it here first”, tweeted one fan.

Mind you, many viewers were convinced that Alesha was Harlequin in the last series — that turned out to be singer Gabrielle.

Traffic Cone sang Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” and many fans became convinced it is actually Rick himself beneath the orange cone. 

“I think we are being Rick Rolled by @MaskedSingerUK and traffic cone is actually Rick Astley”, wrote one viewer, who received a lot of support for her opinion. But why would producers make it so obvious? Wouldn’t they ask the 80s pop star to sing another person’s song?

Poodle had many convinced it was former X Factor finalist and TV presenter, Rylan Clark. The singer who belted out xoxo was clearly taller than host Joel Dommett and lean and as Rylan is 6ft 4in it seems like a great call. Some fans, though, felt that Poodle’s singing was better than Rylan’s ever was!

One tweeted: “Weirdly I did think Rylan but as much as he’s wonderful in every way I’m not sure his vocal was ever quite that smooth!”

Others were convinced it was Paul O’Grady. In fact, some thought it was ‘painfully obvious’.

Rockhopper is without a doubt one of the more confusing and contentious masked singers, with social media guesses ranging from Pussycat Dolls singer Ashley Roberts to Kimberley Wyatt and news presenter Jan Leeming (!), with few common choices.

Bagpipes came on strong with a thick Scottish accent and a gutsy, but limited, performance of Blur’s punky “Song 2”. The clues of a tennis racquet, a bagel and a possible Rolling Stone connection heavily intimated a tennis star, such as John McEnroe or Pat Cash.

Some thought the accent was a red herring: “Bagpipes is definitely not Scottish, terrible accent”.

Others were convinced it was Scottish comedian (and husband of Laura Whitmore) Love Island presenter, Iain Stirling. We will have to wait until Saturday, Jan 8 at 7.30 pm for the next episode to find out!