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The Masked Singer’s Justin Hawkins reveals he was approached to do show after appearing on Bargain Hunt

13 January 2020, 14:30 | Updated: 3 February 2020, 13:40

The Darkness' Justin Hawkins has revealed why he decided to join The Masked Singer.

Viewers were left shocked on Saturday when The Masked Singer's Chameleon was revealed to be The Darkness' Justin Hawkins.

After two weeks on the show, the true identity of the 44-year-old musician became clear when he was voted out of the whacky ITV show.

But following his exit, now Justin has admitted he only joined the show after he was approached after an episode of Bargain Hunt.

Speaking to us exclusively at Heart.co.uk, The Darkness frontman explained: “Last year I did Bargain Hunt and then my TV lady came up to me and said somebody had sneakily approached me and told me not to tell anyone but to consider it."

He then added: “And I said ‘I want this much money’ and they said ‘no we’ll give you this much money’ and I said alright then…”

The Masked Singer - which originated in South Korea - sees a bunch of celebrities dressed head-to-toe in whacky costumes, while they take to the stage with an iconic song.

It’s then up to judges Rita Ora, Davina McCall, Ken Jeong and Jonathan Ross to try and work out who’s behind the mask, as well as a live audience and viewers at home.

Unfortunately, this week Justin ended up in the bottom two, where he went against The Duck in the sing-off.

The star went on to tell us that the identity of the rest of the stars has been kept top secret with some clever tricks of ITV producers.

He told us: “I bumped into one singer but I have no idea which character it was because we were both wearing hoodies, balaclavas and welding masks and we weren’t allowed to talk to each other.”

Revealing what he had to wear to stay undercover, Justin continued: “Gloves because I have tattoos on my hands and also it would give away other aspects of my personality. There was also no skin or eyes on display at any time, I think everyone was in their own cabin with a few wagon wheels and sparkling waters or whatever you need.”

Before adding: “Sometimes I could hear the faint stirrings of someone warming up, but you’d never be able to identify them.

“I don’t think anybody had any idea really."

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Every time I donned the electric camouflage spandex I felt a monster grow. I recall looking upon my reflection prior to the first rehearsal: I didn’t recognise myself. This shadowy reptilian alter-ego began to devour my personality, replacing my mild mannered temperate self with a supremely confident sociopath. I have no memory of my behaviour whilst disguised, perhaps my brain has compartmentalised those experiences... or perhaps I fell prey to some diabolical mind possession. Even today, my sleep is interrupted by surreal visions of my own Lycra lizard-gloved hands doing stuff that I am too ashamed to contemplate. Are these distorted memories or feverish fantasies? I know not but I awaken in unfamiliar surroundings amongst unfamiliar company, discarded clothing and drained insect corpses strewn across unfamiliar floors. All I can say is that I’m grateful to the Masked Singer celebrity panellists for kicking me off the show early enough for me to try and claw back some semblance of my pre-chameleon life. Those 2 days were an ordeal that I may never fully recover from. There will always be a bit of chameleon in me; perhaps there always was. This is a cautionary tale, ANYBODY could end up with a bit of chameleon in them. To those who were directly affected by The Chameleon’s antics, I offer sympathy but I can not offer remorse. I wasn’t myself. X

A post shared by Justin Hawkins (@rockandrolldeservestodie) on Jan 11, 2020 at 1:45pm PST