The UK’s version of The Masked Singer is back and already has the nation trying to figure out which celebrity is underneath each and every one of the costumes.
For season three, singer Rita Ora, television presenter Davina McCall, chat show host Jonathan Ross, and comedian Mo Gilligan all returned as judges as well as Joel Dommett as the host.
So far, two out of the 12 contestants have been unmasked. On January 1, M People frontwoman Heather Small was revealed to be Chandelier while television presenter Gloria Hunniford was the second celebrity eliminated as Snow Leopard the following night.
Last night, Panda made their performance debut and immediately appeared very familiar to a lot of viewers.
Panda’s clues and first performance
In their very first clue package, Panda expressed they love an adventure while being captured in the woods. In one frame, they were sat with three tents behind them. Soon after, Panda was seen by a fire that had a white feather on the side.
“Being out and about in the wild comes second nature to me,” they said before mentioning they’ve always followed their own path from a young age.
During one part of the VT, they stood in front of a stand that said “talent show” written on it. They described themselves as an “introverted extravert” and stated this isn’t the first time they’ve been connected to “these creatures.”
For Panda’s debut performance, they sang Dua Lipa’s smash hit Levitating and put on an energetic display, despite appearing nervous before they sang. They also proved to be a double threat as they sang and rapped well.
The panel’s initial guesses ranged from Helen Skelton, Emily Atack, Keely Hawes, and Camila Cabello.
After meeting with the panel for the first time, Panda’s final clue of the night is that this isn’t the first time they’ve been “animated.”
Many of the clues point to Australian actor and singer Natalie Imbruglia
Even though the panel’s guesses are all over the place, viewers were quick to believe that panda is in fact ’90s superstar Natalie Imbruglia. Going by the clue package alone, it seems that could be the case.
Imbruglia is no stranger to an adventure. After all, she’s an international pop star who was born in Australia and is now a British citizen. Due to her success, she will have traveled all over the world several times. As for “being out and about in the wild,” she previously shared on Instagram that nature is her savior.
Out of the three tents, Panda was sat on the left of the middle tent. As many fans will know, Imbrugalia’s debut album was titled Left of the Middle. The BRIT Award winner’s latest studio album is also titled Firebird, which relates to the fire and the white bird feather next to it. As for the talent show clue, she was previously a judge on The X Factor in Australia in 2010.
As for this not being the first time Panda has ever been animated, Imbruglia played the voice role of Koala in the 2002 animated television movie Legend of the Lost Tribe.
On Panda’s costume appears a hammer, which could be because Imbruglia released a single last year called Build It Better.
“The Panda is 10000% Natalie Imbruglia,” one user tweeted.
“I have gone from ‘I don’t know who Panda is’ to ‘Panda is Natalie Imbruglia I’d stake my life on it’ in 10 seconds #MaskedSingerUK,” another person shared.
“If panda isn’t Natalie Imbruglia, I’ll eat my Australian hat. #MaskedSingerUK,” a third person wrote.
Panda currently remains in the competition, therefore, it’s only a matter of time until we find out if Imbruglia really is Panda.
The Masked Singer UK airs Saturday on ITV at 7pm.