Davina McCall has said secretly transferring from the judging panel to perform on The Masked Singer was “the maddest ruse” but “one of the greatest experiences of my life”.
The TV star, who has been a panellist on the ITV talent show for the last five series, said appearing on the Christmas special – which aired on Boxing Day – was “too good an opportunity to miss” and one of her bucket list moments.
McCall, dressed in a Star costume, sang Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and This Christmas to unwitting fellow panellists Jonathan Ross, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and Mo Gilligan.
“It was one of the greatest experiences of my life so far,” McCall said.
“It was just the maddest ruse I have ever done. I didn’t expect to enjoy the whole process of singing as much as I did.
“I’ve booked a singing lesson for after the recording of the show and I’m going to carry on singing. Just for myself, not to sing anywhere or do anything but just because I loved it.”
The TV presenter said she could not wear her usual deodorant or perfume for fear of the judges recognising her scent, and channelled the US accent based on her sister-in-law from Virginia – “so a little bit of Dolly Parton”.
McCall said as she was singing, she was thinking about the importance of Christmas after she had brain surgery to remove a rare benign tumour in November.
“I was trying to convey what the songs meant to me and this Christmas is going to be a very important and special Christmas for me and it will have extra special meaning. I was really thinking about that when I was singing,” she said.
The “big” tumour, known as a colloid cyst, which was 14mm wide, was found after McCall was offered a health check-up as part of her menopause advocacy work.
She had it removed in mid-November through a craniotomy, a surgical procedure to temporarily remove part of the skull, and has since shown off her scar which stretched across the front of her head near her hairline.
After her Masked Singer appearance, McCall confirmed it would not mark the start of a music career despite getting an “amazing feeling of euphoria” during her performances.
“I loved the emotion behind singing, it makes me very emotional and I love that feeling,” she said.
“I always wanted to sound like a kind of soul singer, Rihanna or somebody like that.
“Actually I realised I’m much better at singing Disney musicals.
“I realise now that I’ll never be the singer that I thought I could have been.”
McCall added that she “loved” her costume.
“Star was the sweetest, I literally fell in love with Star,” she said.
“The way that I had to find a way to express myself without being able to move my arms or legs.
“All I could do was wiggle and run with my little legs and jump up and down at the same time or hop. It was really funny.”
Comedian and host Joel Dommett said he “absolutely did not know” that the performer was McCall, describing it as “the most shocking reveal so far”.
“She lied to me right to my face. She texted me and said that she had severe diarrhoea but she did not, in fact she was in a costume.
“Livid! I’ll never trust her again,” he joked.
Former Big Brother host McCall, who presents ITV dating show My Mum, Your Dad, became an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours last year for services to broadcasting.
Earlier this year, she was honoured with the special recognition award at the National Television Awards for her broadcasting career and received an honorary degree from Newcastle University for championing women’s health.
McCall made her name on Big Brother between 2000 and 2010 during its Channel 4 run, and has gone on to co-present BBC Comic Relief and Sport Relief, Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer, The Million Pound Drop and Long Lost Family, and voiced a robot version of herself in Doctor Who.
The TV star also regularly posts about exercising and health products and has released numerous fitness DVDs.
The new series of The Masked Singer starts on January 4th at 7pm and January 5th at 6.30pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.