In a surprising revelation, a former contestant from The Masked Singer UK has admitted to breaking a significant rule of the hit ITV show. Actress Julia Sawalha, best known for her role in Father Brown, disclosed the details during a television appearance over the weekend.
A Rule Broken Before the Performance
Julia Sawalha, who was unmasked as Bubble Tea on the show back in 2024, appeared on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh on Sunday, January 11. During the interview, she confessed that producers told her in advance that her former co-star, Jennifer Saunders, would be sitting on the guessing panel.
This is a direct breach of the show's typical protocol, where contestants are deliberately kept in the dark about the panel's composition to preserve genuine reactions. Sawalha explained her reasoning, stating that the forewarning was crucial for her ability to perform.
"I Don't Think I Would Have Made It"
The actress argued that if she had walked out onto the stage and been unexpectedly confronted by Saunders, the shock might have been too much. "If they hadn't and I'd walked out, it's scary enough as it is," she told Alan Titchmarsh. "If I had seen her on the panel, I don't think I would have made it."
This confession adds a new layer to the now-iconic moment when Sawalha was unmasked. Upon revealing her identity, she shouted "Mummy!" towards a stunned-looking Jennifer Saunders, who played her mother, Edina Monsoon, in the classic sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. Saunders leapt up, exclaiming, "Darling, what are you doing here?!"
Sawalha recalled that she later told Saunders everyone would think the moment was staged, to which Saunders replied, "not with a look on my face." She genuinely had no idea, partly because the elaborate costumes make all the singers appear very tall from the panel's vantage point.
The Lasting Impact of a Terrifying Experience
Beyond the rule-breaking revelation, Sawalha opened up about the intense psychological challenge of performing on the show. She described an overwhelming sense of stage fright that went far beyond anything she had experienced before.
"It wasn't stage fright it was something way beyond," she admitted. "I could not pull a thing from my brain. It had gone totally black. I don't think I could have even known what my name was."
She described entering a "freeze mode", which she believes was her body's way of resting before a huge adrenaline hit. Despite the terror, Sawalha credits the experience with changing her for the better, proving she could overcome an extreme mental block.
She was reassured by producers that such a complete mental blank is a known and common reaction under the unique pressures of the Masked Singer UK format, where performers are isolated within bulky costumes with limited senses.
Fans can catch up on all episodes of The Masked Singer UK on the ITVX streaming service.
