Producers pulled out all the stops when it came to booking big names for the last series of The Masked Singer US, and two weeks into the new season, it’s clear they’ve pulled it off once again.

Having already said goodbye to rapper Busta Ryhmes in the first week of the competition, the latest instalment saw an actual Oscar nominee unmasking themself.

Alright, it was former boxer Mickey Rourke, but an Oscar nominee is an Oscar nominee, folks.

But rather than being voted out of the competition by the judges, Mickey actually took off his own mask after his performance, complaining that he was too hot in his costume (which was a giant furry Gremlin, to be fair to him).

Mickey’s self-elimination meant the rest of his masked competitors could remain in the competition for another week, with host Nick Cannon pointing out that it marked a first for the show.

Asked why he signed up for The Masked Singer, Mickey joked: “I was in the neighbourhood.

“I do like the show. I watched, like, four episodes, you know. They asked me, ‘Would you be interested?’ So I watched, like, from the very beginning.”

His elimination came after a performance of Stand By Me, which he dedicated to a close friend who had recently died.

It was recently confirmed that a new series of UK version of The Masked Singer had completed filming, with comedian Mo Gilligan joining the panel in place of Ken Jeong.

Host Joel Dommett said earlier this week: “It was mad, obviously, there were a lot of rules and regulations so the relief when we got it done was amazing.

“However, they had many strict rules in place so they could adhere to the social distancing guidelines.

“There were a lot of rule changes at the time and everyone was scared it was going to get shut down halfway through.

“The scale of the production of that show is so big, so I am so pleased that it’s done and ITV managed to get it done.“ 

Former Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts won the first series of The Masked Singer UK, which aired earlier this year.

Nicola – known on the show as Queen Bee – beat stiff competition from opera star Katherine Jenkins and comedian Jason Manford, who performed as Octopus and Hedgehog, respectively.