Fans of The Masked Singer were thrilled to see Aled Jones beneath the Traffic Cone costume over the weekend – but now the star himself has claimed he feared for his life while performing on the show.
The 51-year-old Welsh singer – who famously performed Walking in the Air on animation classic The Snowman – was hidden beneath an elaborate costume on the madcap ITV talent contest.
But Aled says he felt like he was left struggling to breathe, let alone sing, with such a huge costume on his body during his performances.
The star said week one in particular was difficult to get through when he sang a hit song by iconic ‘80s singer Rick Astley.
Appearing on Heart FM on Monday, Aled reflected on his struggles while discussing his The Masked Singer experience with radio show host Amanda Holden.
He said: “The first week when I did the Rick Astley song, ‘Never Going to Give You Up’ - I almost had a heart attack trying to dance in that outfit to Rick Astley, oh my gosh.”
Asked by Amanda: “How uncomfortable is it?”, it seems the answer was ‘very’.
Aled explained: “On a scale of 1-10? Yeah 10! What do you think dressed like a massive traffic cone!
“You can’t see anything. Literally nothing at all. I started moving first time I sang it, and literally after the first phrase, I thought, I’m going to die! I can’t carry on!
“I was going “never going to [gasp] give you [gasp] up [gasp]”, this 51 year old lump on stage, trying to dance!”
During his chat, Aled also gave insight into the extreme behind-the-scenes measures that are taken to ensure the identities of the celebrities taking part in the show remain a secret.
He said: “Not even backstage. About half an hour before you arrive on the airfield where they record it, I don’t want to give too much away, but you have to put a balaclava on, a visor, gloves, and you’ve got a hoodie that says ‘don’t speak to me’ and you never see anybody else.
“So I never ever saw a single other contestant whilst I was there. Except if we were on stage and that’s it.”
He went on: “I know it’s crazy, you’re basically pushed onto stage, because I couldn’t see anything really and then you’re dumped there and you do your bit, and then you go home.”
Aled also explained there were definite perks to featuring on the show, as he laughed: “And you get your own car! And dressing room with food. It’s why I did it.”
Heart FM star Amanda may well know exactly how Aled feels, however, as she is rumoured to be the Panda – who is the bookies favourite to win the final this weekend.
Mandy may have let the cat out of the bag last week when she was photographed with what looked like a panda costume in the boot of her car.
Meanwhile, series two winner Joss Stone is set to return to the show for Saturday's final as a guest judge – while series one winner, Nicola Roberts, will also be on the show to duet with one of the remaining contestants.
The Masked Singer concludes on ITV on Saturday at 7pm – Tune in to Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden weekdays from 06:30.
