The judge became emotional as ITV aired the first episode of 2026
Davina became teary moments into the new series(Image: ITV)
The Masked Singer’s Davina McCall burst into tears moments into the new series after an “emotional” performance was given by one of the mystery celebrities. As 2026 arrived in style, so did The Masked Singer for a new series after first airing back in 2020.
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 the series kicks off, the 12 new contestants will be split into two groups with six performing each episode until they’re merged together when they start to get eliminated.
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.
As Moth took to the stage with their rendition of Hero by Mariah Carey, Davina had an emotional reaction to the “beautiful” performance. The star gave an outstanding performance with some of the best vocals from the night.
Host Joel Dommett labelled the performance as “unbelievable”, and as he turned to Davina the judge was in tears over the performance, asking someone else to talk first.
She later said: “I’m okay now. Sorry, I’ve got a little bit emotional!”, before suggesting that it could be X Factor UK winner Alexandra Burke hiding behind the mask.
Moth’s performance left the judge feeling emotional (Image: ITV)
It was then revealed that special guest “Goldfish” was popstar Anne-Marie who performed her hit single 2002 after being unmasked following the first round of performances.
Her appearance was teased with clues from ITV before the episode aired, with fans figuring her out even before she managed to get on stage.
Viewers were also left surprised as Masked Singer aired ten minutes later than scheduled due to a last minute re-edit as ITV cut Red Panda’s performance from the show.
An ITV spokesperson told Manchester Evening News: “In light of the tragic events in Switzerland, we took the decision to remove Red Panda’s performance on The Masked Singer in tonight’s programme owing to potential insensitivities within the theme and lyrics of the song. Viewers will get to see Red Panda perform in the coming weeks.”