Top, cardigan, trousers and scarf COS / Shoes Grenson / Necklace Tsvite Teren / Socks Falke

“It was mad because Hannah [Dommett’s wife] had to completely keep it all a secret from me,” Dommett tells Principle. “I’d just done the NTAs and it was the busiest week of my life. The next week, we started The Masked Singer, and suddenly my week was full. I had this photoshoot booked in for my tour and I was like, ‘I think I can wait. I’m gonna cancel it.’ Everyone was forcing me to go to the photoshoot, which was annoying. Now it all makes sense!” Wanna know Giant Joel’s real identity? Find out during the first episode of Series 6 on January 4.

As always, the show’s formula will see Dommett be joined by a panel of judges – Davina McCall, Maya Jama, Mo Gilligan, and Jonathan Ross – who will put their best detective work forward by trying to guess the famous faces underneath the masks. With previous year’s boasting a whole range of talent from Joss Stone, Danny Jones, Ne-Yo and Jason Manford to Michael Owen, Michelle Williams, Mel B, and Chris Kamara, no name is off the cards.

As Dommett continues to glide through 2025 with a booked and busy career, he tells us more about the upcoming series while revealing his secret to staying energised during his stand-up tours, life as a first-time dad, and his main goal for 2025.

Jacket The Frankie Shop / Jumper Wax London / T-shirt COS / Trouser The Frankie Shop / Shoes AMI / Ring Tilly Sveaas 

The Masked Singer is back for another series! Now in its sixth series, what do you think keeps the show feeling fresh and viewers coming back for more?

It’s getting weirder. I think it’s getting odder and odder. And if you thought it was weird before, it’s getting even more strange. And also we’re getting more confident as a production. We’re putting in more twists and turns and interesting elements to it that you wouldn’t necessarily expect with the format. It’s just fun and we’re really enjoying it, but production certainly is letting me do pretty much whatever I want. Any mad ideas I have, they’re like, ‘Yeah, that sounds good.’ We’ve got this one episode in this series where my shorts get shorter. I wear a suit with shorts, and I thought that would be a really funny idea because it’s a holiday-themed episode. I was like, ‘Well, what about if we come back from every ad break and my shorts are shorter and I don’t mention it to anyone?’ And they were like, ‘Great idea. I love it.’ It’s just so fun to work on a show where they really embrace your ideas.

How good are you at guessing the identities? 

I’m really terrible at it. I actually love that I’m just the host because I don’t have to guess. However, I got it correct when Charlie Simpson took part in Series 4. On the Christmas episode we just did, it was Davina as Star. She was amazed that I didn’t get it, but I just didn’t see it. I just remember that they were trying to lead us off the scent so much that I had absolutely no idea. It’s more fun for me when I don’t really try and get it because then it’s a real surprise when they take their hat off. 

Full Look Ami / Socks Falke / Necklace and ring Tilly Sveaas 

Has there ever been anyone unmasked and you had no clue who they were?

Yeah, Alan Johnson was funny. Lovely man, Alan Johnson. I did a bit in my stand-up about not knowing who he was when he was revealed and how funny that was. And then I saw him on This Morning when I was hosting it, he came over and sat at the table and I was like, ‘Oh, Alan. How are you?’ And he was like, ‘You know who I am now, do you?’ That’s what I love about the show. It has very different people for different demographics. Not everybody’s gonna know who Joanna Page is. Not everybody’s gonna know who Dionne Warwick is, but there’s a certain demographic that absolutely loved Dion Warwick, so it’s really interesting.

When the show is airing do you read the guesses from viewers in real time?

Yeah, I love watching it. I also watch the show because then I kind of know what to do or not to do next year. I find it really funny how people guess. The sound of someone’s voice can often sound so different in the studio than on the telly. We’re also not able to look stuff up to see who is in the country when we’re filming the television show. We get told off when we’re on our phones. It’s definitely easier when you’ve got Google at your fingertips. I did The Masked Singer Live, which was done in arenas around the country. I’m always amazed at how quickly people get stuff. 

Jacket Kulakovsky / T-shirt COS / Trousers The Frankie Shop / Shoes All Saints / Ring Tilly Sveaas 

What is your favourite costume this year? I think I know what you’re gonna say.

My favourite costume this year is Giant Joel. It’s just unbelievable. I can’t help but find it offensive at the same time. There is grey hair there. The nose is massive. The teeth are obviously absolutely huge, and the grin is petrifying. It would scare children.

Is the suit they’re wearing one of yours?

It’s actually not mine, but it was similar to one that I had last year. But they went to the suit designer that I go to and got a fabric from him. Usually, you’d have to be way more famous than me to get a big caricature bust made of yourself, but somehow I’ve managed to get it made. No matter what my wife [Hannah Cooper] says, I’m gonna have it in my house. I don’t think we’ve got space, but it’s gonna be in here somewhere. 

Full look The Frankie Shop / T-shirt COS / Shoes All Saints / Ring Tilly Sveaas

Maya Jama has joined the panel for this series, replacing Rita Ora. What’s the dynamic been like with a new personality?

She’s great. She fit right in immediately. It’s a weird show to come in on. When you’re there in the flesh, it’s so hard. It can flummox a lot of people but she was brilliant. She took it all in her stride. That’s the thing. Maya Jama lives a mad life with lots of private yachts and planes and rappers. She lives a really ridiculous life. She’s slotted into this perfectly. If anything, when she’s sat behind the panel watching a massive version of me dancing and singing “Hello” from Lionel Richie, she’s just like, ‘Oh, this is more normal than my ridiculous life.’

What other surprises can we expect from this series?

There is an amazing reveal in this series that is gonna be my favorite reveal forever, I think. One of the characters gets voted off and they are really not happy about it. Like genuinely. They were really upset that they did not win it. There’s something hilarious about seeing someone in a massive costume storm off. What they’re gonna show of it, I have no idea. But even if they don’t show it, I know, and that’s amazing. There is also someone on the show this series that has been mentioned a lot in the past. It’s again a great way to book the show because people have their names mentioned over and over and over again and then they’re like, ‘Look, I might as well be on it.’

Full Look The Frankie Shop / Shoes All Saints / Socks Falke / Ring Tilly Sveaas 

Would you say the lineup this year is better than the last?

Yeah, I would, actually. Even though last year was really good, this year they just managed to make it even bigger. It must be insane trying to do that. Like, what a crazy job. That’s why I love the show because everyone loves working on it. I love working on it. The panel loves working on it. The producers love it because they love the secret to keep. The dancers love it because it’s so weird. The makeup artists love it because it’s just so expressive. Every department, even the cameramen loves it because at least they’re guessing who it is. They’re not just filming stuff, they’re also playing along. Everyone’s having fun on that production. Having worked in telly now for quite a long time, I’d say it’s quite rare to have a show where you genuinely feel like everyone there is having a really fun time. It’s really cool and it feels like a privilege to be a part of it. 

After the show has aired, you are heading out on a nationwide UK tour until June. Having done many tours now, what is the secret to staying energised and excited each night?

That’s a really good question. My sort of technique for that is to put a new bit in every night, just like a tiny little bit that changes something. I make notes each night, I go into the dressing room and go, ‘That was weird. That needs to be changed. That needs to be tightened,’ and then just try and do it the next night. It just keeps you on your toes a little bit. I also go out at the top and do a lot of chatting with the audience, which keeps it exciting and interesting and creates those characters in the audience, which is really cool. I’ve definitely done tours before where I’ve had tour support and then I just come out, do the show, and go home. It’s nice to get to know everyone a little bit and then you just feel like the audience gets more of a rounded show for me, I think. I usually come out, do the first section, talk to the audience a bit, and then do a bit of stuff, then have a break and then come back out, and do a full show in the second section. A really big part of touring is about finding ways to keep it interesting. That’s my way of doing it. It’s like, keep changing it, keep adding stuff, take stuff out. Don’t be afraid to sort of mix it all around. Otherwise, you get halfway through the tour and it just feels stale. So you just got to keep it interesting.

Jacket The Frankie Shop / Jumper Wax London / T-shirt COS / Trouser The Frankie Shop / Shoes AMI / Ring Tilly Sveaas 

You’ve had such a diverse career from comedy, presenting, and acting. What’s been the most surprising turn in your career so far?

It’s always surprising, to be honest. Every job I get, I’m surprised I’m working at all. I feel so privileged. I love every job that I do because it’s different from the last. I think something that I really love about my career is that it feels like it’s full of variety. That’s why I love to keep doing stand-up because it’s so different from the shows that I do on the telly. But, yeah, everything surprises me, from The Masked Singer to Survivor to going back to the jungle this year, which was a huge surprise. Having a show cancelled and then reinstated is not just rare, it never happens.

As you mentioned, you’ve enjoyed a lot of success in various entertainment roles. If you could switch careers for a day, what would you do?

I’d love to be an accountant for a day, just to understand how to do my accounts because I’m so naive with all of that stuff. I think I’d also be a barista because I love coffee. I really do. I make a great cup of coffee. I love my coffee machine so much. [The ranking] goes, Hannah and Wilde [his son], and then just under that the coffee machine. I feel like there’s something quite cathartic about making coffee. Although, I’m sure anyone working in Costa wouldn’t say the same. 

Top, cardigan, trousers and scarf COS / Shoes Grenson / Necklace Tsvite Teren / Socks Falke

Five years ago, you were asked whether you preferred animals or babies. You replied: “Neither. I can’t look after myself, so I can’t be bothered to start cleaning up poop from babies or animals right now.” How is looking after a 1-year-old son?

I clean up a lot of poop and there’s a weird thing that happens where you actually start to enjoy it. It just becomes part of your daily life where I’m like shouting across the house, ‘Has he done a poo?! What size was it? Okay!’ That’s just part of my life now. And I actually get really excited when he does a really horrific one. I’m like, ‘Oh, come on, man. Congratulations!’ The other day I was changing his nappy in the morning. You know, sometimes you get up and you forget that you need a wee. I went straight away to change his nappy and I really needed to wee myself. I was gonna wee myself, but just in time, I grabbed a Pampers nappy, slid it down my boxer shorts, and just let it go and it was utterly liberating. We worked with them when Wilde was quite young. I should start a Pampers, Calvin Klein collab. That’s what I’m up for. Maybe a bit of Pampers in the front of a Calvin Klein so you can just wee whenever you want.

How would you say fatherhood has changed things for you?

I love being at home way more than I ever did before. With jobs, when I’d be offered something, I’d go, ‘Yeah, I might as well because I’m only going to be at home.’ Whereas now I’m like, ‘Well, I could be at home.’ So it definitely changed a lot of decisions for me. I say no a lot more than I used to and it’s just such a cheesy cliche to say, but it’s completely enriched my life in ways that I never thought it would. I enjoy it in ways that I didn’t think I would enjoy it. I feel really lucky to have been given the chance to be a dad.

Full Look Ami / Socks Falke / Necklace and ring Tilly Sveaas 

What are your goals for 2025?

To not age. That’s quite a big one. It’s a big ask of the world to stop time, but I would love it if I didn’t age. My goal for 2025 is to go into 2026 looking exactly the same.

The Masked Singer starts Saturday 4th January at 7pm and Sunday 5th January at 6.30pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

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