Jonathan Ross has prompted calls for him to step down from ITV’s The Masked Singer – and presenting as a whole by some – following his latest appearance in the singing competition.
Alongside Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan, and Maya Jama, Ross has been an ever-present figure on the Masked Singer judging panel this year as the foursome try to rumble the identities of the famous faces hidden under the costumes.
On Saturday, it was Mel Giedroyc who was the celebrity unmasked after she took to the stage as Teeth.
Giedroyc lost out to the likes of Bush, Snail, Pufferfish, Wolf, Kingfisher, Dressed Crab and Bear during Saturday’s elimination, meaning fans will have to wait to see if any of the judges’ guesses turn out to be correct.
But one guess that fans are all but certain won’t turn out to be correct is the answer Ross gave for Bush as it’s a guess he’s dished out time and time again during his tenure on the panel.
Ross shared his guess for Bush following their performance, saying to the crowd: “Wasn’t that a lovely start to the show?
ITV The Masked Singer: Jonathan Ross has angered ITV viewers with his gags
ITV
“I’m trying to make sense of the clues… there was on clue, in particular, that you said.
“You said, ‘Knowledge is flower-ful’. Well, what do we use flour for?” Ross pondered, prompting Jama to chip in: “Baking.”
“Baking,” Ross agreed as groans began to ripple from the studio audience as he teed up: “And who loves to bake?”
“Oh, god,” host Joel Dommett said as he put his hand on his head before Ross interrupted: “Who is the best baker this country has ever produced? Yes! I think it’s Mary Berry, ladies and gentleman.”
ITV The Masked Singer: Mary Berry is the subject of Ross’s long-running joke
PA
The studio audience let out a laugh as they recognised it was a long-running gag of Ross’s to guess Berry for several contestants over the years, no matter how implausible.
But while his co-stars feigned their exasperation, Ross’s continual revisiting of the joke sparked outrage among a number of ITV viewers, leading to the calls for him to step down.
“Get Jonathan Ross off FGS #TheMaskedSinger,” one fan complained on X, before a second similarly called for his departure: “Jonathan Ross is not entertaining at all. His ridiculous guesses are borderline childish now. Why is he even there? Get rid of him @ITV ##MaskedSingerUK.”
“Get rid of @wossy cos he is actually boring the bits of me #maskedsingeruk,” a third harshly hit out while a fourth blasted: “Why is Jonathan Ross even on this show. He makes no effort to try and guess….oh it’s Marry Berry…..yeah of course it is! #Boring #maskedsingeruk.”
And a fifth even brutally called for Ross to retire and pack up altogether, as they weighed in: “@Wossy has made enough dosh now, he’s boring, so should do us all a favour & f*** off for good #MaskedSingerUK.”
Despite the complaints, however, Ross was still on the receiving end of some praise from a handful of X users.
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“Jonathan Ross saying everyone is Mary Berry,” one viewer typed with a series of laughing emojis before a second also shared the same emojis with the post: “One day Mary Berry really will come on the show and shock us all, proving Jonathan RIGHT #maskedsingeruk.” (sic)
It sounds like several fans will be hoping Ross won’t repeat the gag when the singing competition returns for another episode next Saturday.
One thing Masked Singer fans do have to look forward to, however, is the first double unmasking of the series.