Fans of The Masked Singer – and the judging panel alike – were stunned on Saturday night when This Morning star Ben Shephard was revealed as the star beneath the Conkers costume
Ben Shephard has explained how he pulled the wool over the eyes of the Masked Singer judges in order to be a performer and a guest judge on the most recent season. The 51-year-old presenter was revealed as the star beneath the Conker costume in the 2026 finale.
Show judges Mo Gilligan, Maya Jama, Davina McCall and Jonathan Ross were gobsmaked when the runner up contestant was revealed as This Morning star Ben. And they were especially stunned as he had acted as a guest judge just weeks earlier during a Halloween themed edition of the show – which aired in mid-January.
On Saturday night, Sugababes icon Keisha Buchanan was unmaksed as the star beneath the Moth costume and crowned winner. But minutes earlier the panel was left gasping when Ben was uncovered as Conker – taking all of them by surprise. In a post-show interview, the TV hunk admitted he relished taking part – and fooling his co-stars.
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Asked how it felt to dupe the judges, he said: “I’ve loved it. The experience has been remarkable. Really special. I loved that side of it. As a rule, I think I’m pretty straight down the line and the fact I got to do something so under-hand. Davina was talking to me in the most minute detail about what happens when you’re a contestant on the show. I was asking her loads of questions.”
Ben was congratulated for throwing himself into character as Conker – and confessed he loved trying out a new personality. He said: “You might not have realised that I’m not necessarily the best singer.
“The costumes are incredible, my costume particularly had so much going for it. I fell in love with it immediately. I just worked on the idea that Conkers wants to be really brave, he is a knight, but he [Conkers] is actually just a little bit nervous as well and actually wants people to be his mates.”
The TV star is a proud dad of two sons; Sam, 21, and Jack 19 – and he is convinced they would have been stunned to see him unmasked too. He gushed: “They will be thrilled to bits. How much ammunition have I given them for the rest of their lives?”
He went on to suggest This Morning co-host Cat Deeley will also be stunned by the reveal. He said: “Cat’s boys love the show, I can’t wait. The bizarre thing is, I have been interviewing all the unmasked celebrities on This Morning.
“They have no idea I’m on the show and still in it! It’s an isolating experience going on this show as you can’t tell anyone. I can’t wait to be able to talk to everyone about it.”
Having survived eight weeks on the ITV series, Ben revealed he leapt at the chance to portray Conkers when he was given the option of costume ideas at the beginning of the process. He explained: “I think it was destiny. They talked me through some ideas but when they showed me Conkers I fell in love with it.”
After being unmasked on the show, Ben joked that he had “always dreamt” of dressing up as a conker, and had decided to take part in the series after turning 50 and deciding he needed to do more things to push his boundaries as he enters his next chapter in life. As well as Ben and Keisha, TV presenter Mica Paris was also uncovered as a contestant that made it all the way to the final.
She was dressed as a toasted sandwich, and stunned the audience and judges when she performed A Star Is Born by Jocelyn Brown. Past contestants Andrea Corr, Will Young and Samantha Barks also returned to the series to duet with Ben, Keisha and Mica respectively.
It is not yet clear if The Masked Singer will return for more episodes as it was renewed for two seasons back in 2024 – which covered the episodes that aired in 2025 and 2026. However, the family-friendly show has been a hit for ITV – with fans online already expressing their hope that Keisha will return to guest judge the show in 2027.
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