EastEnders star Richard Blackwood has addressed The Masked Singer UK rumours with a cryptic comment.
The actor appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (January 21), where he was questioned by hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley about his connections to Bear – one of the characters on the ITV singing competition.
“He’s a very funny guy. He’s the stand-up soap star, best known for his breakout role in Albert Square, and now Richard Blackwood is returning to his comedic roots for his funniest show, people are saying, to date,” Madeley began.
Susanna added: “But fans and Jonathan Ross are convinced it’s not his only new gig. Richard is top of the guest list for Bear on the Masked Singer.”
After being shown a clip of Bear’s most recent performance, Richard revealed that he’d received lots of messages asking if he was behind the mask.
“Why do you think everyone thinks it’s you?” Madeley asked, to which Richard said: “His swagger. The swagger is on point. I’m looking and going, ‘That’s how I would do it.’ You can’t put on a bear outfit and not know that the swagger’s got to be on point, because it’s not an everyday outfit. It’s hot in there and stuff, so I’ve heard.”
Susanna quickly called the star out on his comments, asking: “How do you know it’s hot in there?” but Richard soon explained that he was part of Shrek the Musical for two years, so can “relate” to wearing a restrictive outfit.
“That’s how I’d do it if I was to do it,” he concluded.
Speculation surrounding Bear’s identity has been rife in recent weeks, with lots of famous names being thrown around.
As well as Richard, other guesses have included Tom Davis, Ade Edmondson, David Harewood and singer-songwriter Example.
Bear has already shown a variety of vocal skills on the show. For his first performance, the character sang ‘You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two’ from the musical Oliver! He then showed a whole new side to himself with a rendition of Will Smith’s 1997 hit ‘Miami’.
Bear will return to The Masked Singer stage this Saturday (January 25) to fight for a place in the next stage in the competition. The remaining characters also include Bush, Dressed Crab, Kingfisher, Pufferfish, Snail, Teeth and Wolf.
The Masked Singer UK is available to watch on ITVX
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.