Macy Gray finally revealed herself after storming offstage on The Masked Singer (Image: ITV)
There’s more to Macy Gray’s dramatic departure from , which had seen viewers at home brand her “miserable” and “ungracious”.
She walked out as soon as it was announced that her character, Toad In The Hole, had lost out to Bear – and instead of unmasking herself to reveal her true identity, as per show tradition, she left immediately. Viewers then saw her return a few minutes later – but what they didn’t know is that ITV bosses had spent the best part of an hour trying to coax her out to continue the show.
A source reported in has suggested that US singer Macy, best known in Britain for her huge 1999 hit I Try, may have been expecting to reach the final, as she had done on the American version of the show just two years earlier. The source stated that she’d been “totally blindsided” by being ousted so fast, despite her popularity as Sea Queen before, and had exploded.
They elaborated: “This has never happened on The Masked Singer before. When Macy stormed off stage everyone was frozen in shock but as soon as she reached backstage, crew removed her mask so they could talk her down.
“Macy was almost shellshocked to start with and was basically gutted to be out so early because she really enjoyed being on the American version – when obviously she did brilliantly – so was totally blindsided.”
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Maya Jama was “frozen in shock” when Macy Gray stormed off (Image: ITV)
The source continued that she’d had a “very raw human reaction” and “wanted out”.
“For a professional performer to reach that point shows how badly she felt.”
They added that the show was “just a bit of fun”, meaning that Macy’s early upset was no reflection on how much talent she has – but she took it badly nevertheless.
Meanwhile, host Joel Dommett stepped in to take the reins – and while bosses backstage were desperately trying to convince Macy to return and reveal herself, he was busy improvising with a comedy routine.
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Macy Gray in her Toad in the Hole costume (Image: ITV)
Host Joel and judges including Jonathan Ross were praised on the day for their “true professionalism” after they kept the show going without so much as a hiccup despite the chaos taking place behind the scenes.
Macy, who’d sung as Toad in The Hole, performed to a huge audience at home of over 4.7 million viewers – a great ratings result for .
Yet most of the huge number tuning in were oblivious to the extent of the struggle backstage.
Meanwhile, Pufferfish, Bear, Wolf and Bush remain in the competition to keep fans guessing.