Viewers changed a popular guess as ITV aired their spooky episode
Viewers took back their guess for Can of Worms (Image: ITV)
The Masked Singer viewers were left in surprise as a fan-favourite guess turned up to be a guest judge during ITV’s spooktacular special.
As 2026 arrived, The Masked Singer returned to ITV for a new series as 12 more celebrities take to the stage with the judges keen to figure out their identity underneath the mask.
Judges Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross and Maya Jama are back on the contest’s panel. Viewers may recall that Maya Jama took over from Rita Ora last year, with suggestions that it was to focus on her music and other aspects of her career away from the ITV series.
As per previous years, the contestants are split into two groups over the weekend. In group one, we have: Red Panda, Moth, Disc Jockey, Gargoyle, Sloth and Can of Worms. Group two we have: Conkers, Arctic Fox, Toastie, Teabag, Yak and Monkey Business.
So far, The One Show presenter Alex Jones, musician Professor Green and Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon have been unmasked after losing out to the audience vote.
On Saturday (January 17), it was a spooktacular occasion as the show dressed up for a Halloween-themed night. As host Joel Dommett appeared as Wednesday Adams, the judges also arrived dressed up.
Ben Shephard’s appearance left some viewers confused(Image: ITV)
However, it was guest judge Ben Shephard that left some viewers feeling confused after he was a fan-favourite guess for Can of Worms.
As the masked celebrity sang Ghostbusters, Ben watched on from the panel ready to share his guess. He said: “Sensational Can of Worms, great performance!”, before suggesting that Charlie Cooper could be behind the disguise.
On X (formerly known as Twitter), viewers reacted to Ben being on the panel as @avadamgedavra wrote: “Those who marked Ben Shephard down as a guess”
@scotthopper1 added: “Still say Ben Shepherd is conkers despite his appearance tonight” as @betty_mari26982 penned: “Ohh not Ben Shepherd then haha”.
Ahead of the episode, Ben took to his Instagram and gushed: “Who doesn’t love a #spooktacular in January!! Had soo much fun joining the @maskedsingeruk panel for tonight’s show.
“Honestly if you think it’s surreal to watch, it’s even more wonderfully bonkers to see live!!! Bloooming loved it”, as he shared a carousel of snaps from his time on the show.
The Masked Singer airs on Saturday and Sunday from 7pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.