Warning: This article contains speculation and possible spoilers for ITV’s The Masked Singer.

If you’re anything like us, your 2020 will have got off to a surreal start, as we found ourselves transfixed by ITV’s new show The Masked Singer.

The singing contest is kind of a weird hybrid of The Voice and Through The Keyhole, that’s left us shouting random celebrity names at our TV while a load of famous people put on weird performances in elaborate and over-the-top disguises.

So far, three of the secret celebs have already been revealed, with stars as far-reaching as soap actress Patsy Palmer, former MP Alan Johnson and The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins all having been unmasked.

With nine still left in the competition, here are the top theories about which stars are still thriving incognito…

Queen Bee

Main theory: Nicola Roberts, formerly of Girls Aloud

Evidence: Some Girls Aloud fans predicted that Nicola was Queen Bee before the show had even begun, after hearing a snippet of her belting Sia’s Alive in the trailer, and picking up on her distinctive voice.

Since then, though, there’ve been multiple clues to suggest this would be the case. Before her first performance, Queen Bee hinted at having a reputation for being shy, which was certainly the case during Nicola’s time in Girls Aloud.

The following week, the clues came in thick and fast, with Queen Bee claiming to be an activist and “law-maker”, a potential reference to Nicola’s campaigning to have the use of sunbeds banned for people under the age of 16.

Queen Bee was also seen walking around while banging a drum, while Nicola’s debut solo single was called Beat Of My Drum.

And while her voice might be distorted, next time she’s on screen you might even pick up on a slight Scouse twang to Queen Bee’s speaking voice.

Other suspects:

Duck

Main theory: Skin, frontwoman of Skunk Anansie

Evidence: Now, after the first week of The Masked Singer, we were totally stumped about Duck’s identity, and all the clues about how competitive she is seemed to suggest she was a sports star.

The following week, we learned more about the celeb behind the giant rubber duck, though, with many on Twitter suggesting she’s actually Skunk Anansie singer Skin.

While Duck revealed she speaks two foreign languages – as showcased when she performed her second song in Italian – Skin tweeted about learning Italian in 2015, and has previously revealed her love of running, a supposed favourite past time of her bird alter-ego.

And then there’s her “happy birthday” anecdotes. Duck claimed 850,000 people once sang “happy birthday” to her, while she did the same to an anonymous “true legend”.

While we’re still not sure about that mysterious crowd of 850,000, what we do know is that Skin once sang “happy birthday” to Nelson Mandela, fuelling the fire that she’s the star underneath the Duck costume. 

Other suspects:

Unicorn

Main theory: Jake Shears, the former Scissor Sisters singer

Evidence: The identity of Unicorn is one of the most divisive questions remaining on The Masked Singer. It’s a fair bet that there’s a rather flamboyant character underneath the mask, with early guesses – including by judge Jonathan Ross – suggesting it’s John Barrowman.

John does fit the bill for a number of reasons. There’s the American accent, for one thing, but also discussing his joy at seeing his name up “in lights”. However, many fans are also convinced that it’s actually Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters fame underneath all those rainbow feathers.

Unicorn’s falsetto notes could be a giveaway as to the fact it’s Jake under the costume, but also the fact he grew up on a “small island”, before the lights of the big city drew him in (Jake was raised in San Juan Island, Washington, before moving to New York for uni).

He also appeared in a Broadway production of Kinky Boots, which would explain that comment about seeing his name up in lights. 

We wouldn’t be surprised if it did in fact turn out to be John Barrowman – or another celeb, of course – but right now Jake is where we’d be placing our bets. 

Other suspects:

Hedgehog

Main theory: West End legend Michael Ball

Evidence: As was the case with Duck, it didn’t cross our minds that Hedgehog might actually be Michael Ball until week two, when he dropped a few more clues about his secret identity.

Nestled among Hedgehog’s possessions in his VT were props from shows like The Phantom Of The Opera and Hairspray – both of which Michael has appeared in during his musical theatre career – and he also commented he hoped to have a “ball” up on stage.

There were some cat figurines in his house too, and while Michael has never actually been in the feline musical, he did cover Memory on his album Encore.

Another popular theory is that it’s comedian Jason Manford, who has also branched into musical theatre in the last few years.

In episode one, Hedgehog also teased he used to “die every night at 8.30” in one of his past jobs, a joke similar to one Jason used to describe his role in the musical Sweeney Todd.

And could this cat figurines actually be a reference to 8 Out Of 10 Cats..?

Other suspects:

Monster

Main theory: Chart-topping singer Cee-Lo Green

Evidence: As soon as Monster started singing, viewers (and the judges) began suspecting that he was former Gnarls Barkley singer Cee-Lo Green, who is famed for his distinctive singing voice.

Monster also claimed one of his musical heroes was Tony Hadley, someone Cee-Lo confessed to being a fan in an interview with The Guardian a decade ago. 

Monster also professes to not be from the UK, which goes with the theory that is Cee-Lo. Joel Dommett has previously teased Grammy-winners among the cast, too, with the star having won five of them during his career.

The F*** You singer might be an unusual choice for a family show, though, given certain comments he’s made in the last couple of years.

Other suspects:

Fox

Main theory: TV personality and actress Denise Van Outen

Evidence: Fox really had us all guessing with her introductory VT, dropping clues that were both really specific (hinting she’d been on EastEnders, claiming she’d been a party animal in the past, moves a lot “from town to country”), but also could apply to plenty of people.

It was only when she spoke to the panel afterwards that she may have given the game away, and potentially revealed herself to be Denise Van Outen.

When Fox revealed to the judges that she “collects teapots”, it didn’t take viewers long to do a bit of digging, and they soon found out that DVO has a teapot collection of her own.

Denise has previously appeared in Chicago, Rent, Tell Me On A Sunday and Legally Blonde, which would also explain why Fox’s performance was one of the strongest of the series so far. 

Other suspects:

Tree

Main theory: Footballer Teddy Sheringham

Evidence: If you’ll pardon the expression, Tree is the contestant who had us “stumped” the most, which… yes, is because the football world is far from our specialist subject.

In his introductory VT, Tree dropped plenty of hints about his football past (most of it was recorded on a literal football pitch, which was far from subtle), with lines like “pitch perfect”, “goal” and “playing in front of big crowds” being thrown around.

So, how did anyone manage to narrow it down to Teddy Sheringham?

Well, as some viewers pointed out, he mentioned that he was going to “grin and bear it”, during his video interview, which many took as a reference to his name.

Clever, right? 

Other suspects:

Octopus

Main theory: Pussycat Dolls member Ashley Roberts

Evidence: We’ll admit that we were thrown when Octopus hinted that she was really a famous model, but then we got to thinking about what she really meant by the “catwalk”, and her claim that despite her many arms she’s “equally leggy”.

It all seemed to hint that she was a Pussycat Doll, but the question was: which one?

Ashley has already made multiple appearances on British reality TV (I’m A Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing and The Jump to name just three), but the song choice may have also given the game away. Check out this tweet from 2017:

She’s also been showing off her vocal prowess on the West End stage in Waitress, and Octopus also revealed she’s a lover of weight-lifting, as is Ashley.

Other suspects:

Daisy

Main theory: Milkshake and Trick Me singer Kelis

Evidence: Well first of all, Daisy sounds just like Kelis, both singing and talking.

There’s also the fact that she has “uprooted herself from her home soil” (Kelis recently moved to the UK), not to mention her strange claim that her name is derived from the “seeds that made her”, Kelis being a portmanteau of Eveliss and Kenneth, her parents’ names. 

What truly gave the game away was Daisy’s love of fishing, a hobby that Kelis doesn’t just count among her own, but even devoted an entire song to it on her last food-themed album.

Other suspects:

The Masked Singer airs on Saturday nights on ITV.