YMMV / The Masked Singer (UK)

• Captain Obvious Reveal: Although the format of the show makes it inevitable that several fans will be ahead of the judges in guessing the identity of celebs, there are a couple of instances where the reveals were particularly obvious to the majority of fans...
  • The identity of Blob as Lenny Henry in the second series was extremely obvious, and not just because of the clues (his Dudley accent was clearly audible in several performances), and Jonathan Ross in particular had obviously cottoned on a few episodes before the reveal in such a way it felt like the judges had been told to avoid mentioning his name as a possibility until the sing-off.
  • Robin was another contestant whose identity as JLS member Aston Merrygold was figured out by viewers (and the judges as well) a long time before he was unmasked. This might have even been one of the reasons he finished in third place, as Badger and Sausage were far harder to guess than he was...
  • The identity of Doughnuts as footballer Michael Owen in series three was also extremely obvious from the clues, to the point that it was the name that most the judges said when they had to guess who they were after their first performance.
  • In the fourth series, lots of people were easily convinced that Knitting was Claire Richards from Steps, with one of her very first clues being a big giveaway.
  • Also in the fourth series, viewers had guessed for weeks that Jellyfish was Amber Riley. It's probably why she ended up eliminated in the semi-final despite being speculated to be a finalist, especially since she had not long ago won on the US version of the show, though the UK series actually finished filming before she took part in the US one.
  • Both the judges and viewers had guessed for weeks that Rhino was Charlie Simpson from Busted, with some of the clues being especially obvious.
  • In the final of series 5, the judges had guessed for weeks that Lemar and Alex Brooker were Cricket and Bigfoot, respectively, as did many viewers. And while no one on the panel managed to guess that Piranha was Danny Jones (although they did mention his name without guessing him), most viewers were sure of his identity since his first performance.
• Elimination Houdini:
  • To say Doughnuts wasn't the best singer in the third series would be an understatement, yet people kept voting for him to stay because his performances were still full of energy. He was finally unmasked in the quarter final.
  • The fifth series had Bigfoot, who wasn't considered as good as most of the other singers, yet made it to the final, even beating Air Fryer and Eiffel Tower in the semi-final. The fact that the panel weren't able to vote for who they wanted to send through in that episode might have had something to do with it. He even surpassed Cricket in the final, though he still lost to Piranha.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In the first series, Matt Lucas was jokingly mentioned as a possibility for Fox's identity, and then more seriously mentioned as a possibility for Bush Baby in the second series. Then he became a guest judge in the second series's semi-final.
  • During The 2020 BRIT awards, A short time after the first series took place, than-presenter Jack Whitehall made a joke about failed costume concepts created by the designers including toilet and Bad Avocado - in the I’m a Celeb tie in in 2023, a toilet-based mask would win, whilst there was a Bad Avocado character in Australia’s series, also in 2023.
  • The second series has Jonathan bringing up Joss Stone as Swan's identity. Come the final, it turns out that Stone had been in the show all along as Sausage.
  • Additionally, one of the songs Robin sang was "Closer" by Ne-Yo, who as it turned out was also in the show all along as Badger. Made funnier by the fact that the contestants don't even know each other's identities, meaning it was likely a coincidence.
  • In Series 2, one of Rita's guesses for Badger's identity was Alan Partridge, a fictional character. Later on, Matt Lucas also guesses that Badger could be Boober Fraggle. Cut to the reveal of Snail's identity in Season 5 of the US version, and that guess might not have been so ridiculous in hindsight...
  • Mo Gilligan took a guess that Heather Small of M People could be Lionfish in Series 3. Come the end of the episode and it's revealed that Heather Small was indeed on the show - as Chandelier. When Mo tries to claim that he actually got it right she points out to him that he had guessed their name for the wrong character.
  • Jonathan was so convinced that Bagpipes in Series 3 was former tennis player John McEnroe that he said he would eat the drone pipes on the costume if he was wrong. Take three guesses what Jonathan is seen pretending do at the at end of the episode when Bagpipes is revealed to be a different former tennis player, Pat Cash, instead.
  • In the third episode of the fourth series, Mo guessed that Phoenix could be Stephen Mulhern. A few episodes later, Mulhern joins the panel as a guest judge.
  • Similar to what happened in series two with Robin, Jellyfish performs “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi, while Richie Sambora was performing on the show as Jacket Potato. Since both were unmasked on the same show, but at different times, her mouth drops when Joel tells her about it.
  • In the same episode as the above, when Davina suggests that Jacket Potato is Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, Jonathan dismisses the idea by saying that he is a multi millionaire who would be more likely to be lounging around on some luxury yacht somewhere, and not competing on The Masked Singer. When Jacket Potato is revealed to be Sambora, Davina shouts in delight at getting right, while Jonathan is stood there in stunned disbelief.
  • Rita failing to get that Phoenix in Series four was her fellow judge from The Voice UK Ricky Wilson. Also, similar to the examples with Robin and Jellyfish, in episode 4 Rubbish sang "Ruby" by Kaiser Chiefs, likely having no idea that the song's original singer was in the competition.
  • Guest Judge Jennifer Saunders failing to get that Bubble Tea was Julia Sawalha, who played her daughter Saffy in Absolutely Fabulous, was hilarious - Saunders shocked face when she was unmasked said it all. Sawalha’s response of “Mummy!”, when she was revealed made it even funnier.
  • Davina failing to get that Dippy Egg was her co-presenter for the last 13 years on Long Lost Family Nicky Campbell.
• I Knew It!: Many viewers correctly guessed that Skin, Denise van Outen, Cee Lo Green, Katherine Jenkins, Jason Manford and Nicola Roberts were Duck, Fox, Monster, Octopus, Hedgehog and Queen Bee respectively before the unmasking.
• Shocking Elimination:
  • In Series 4, Jellyfish/Amber Riley was unmasked in the semi-final after being a predicted finalist since her first episode. The fact that her identity had been easily guessed by viewers compared to those who went through (Fawn, Phoenix, and Rhino), and that she had recently won the US version, albeit after taking part in the UK version due to the time frames between filming and airing, might have had something to do with it.
  • In Series 5, Air Fryer/Keala Settle was the first to be unmasked in the semi-final despite also being a predicted finalist since her first episode. Even the panel were surprised when they found she wouldn't be going through, especially after having one of the best performances in that episode, but in this instance they weren't able to vote to save her.
  • In the same episode as above, Eiffel Tower/Tiffany was also unmasked after many thought she would also make it to the final. What's even more shocking is that Bigfoot got through despite not being considered as good a singer as the others. Once again, the panel weren't able to vote for who they wanted to send through; it was entirely down to the studio audience.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: The costume for Queen Bee fell into this, due to the use of a Porcelain doll-style face. This turned out to be a clever bit of foreshadowing when Queen Bee was revealed as Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts, who had previously released a song called "Porcelain Heart" and a created range of makeup called "Dainty Doll."