Masked Singer’s Jonathan Ross reveals all about Macy Gray’s tantrum & how ‘great names’ are still to be unmasked

AS a married man of advanced years, Jonathan Ross is lucky enough to find himself caught between two of the most stunning women in show-business right now.

After becoming close pals with Rita Ora on The Masked Singer — which tonight reaches its spectacular conclusion — he has now grown close to her replacement on the panel, Maya Jama.

Jonathan Ross in a green jacket on The Masked Singer. — Jonathan Ross is lucky enough to find himself caught between two of the most stunning women in show-business right now

Maya Jama on the set of The Masked Singer.

Jonathan has now grown close to Maya Jama, Rita Ora’s replacement on the panel[/caption]

Promotional image of The Masked Singer judges: Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall, Joel Dommett, Rita Ora, and Jonathan Ross. — Rita left the show to pursue movies opportunities in the US

In characteristic style, chat show host Jonathan, 64, cheekily suggests this might lead to tension between the two stars — but it certainly isn’t sexual.

He said: “I am of an age and a mindset where I’m not looking at Maya in the same way that lots of younger men might be.

“She’s just really good fun and really easy to work with. I go in her dressing room and we have a nice, long chat beforehand about stuff.

“I’ll sometimes go in and do magic tricks for her because I’ve been learning some card tricks. So I’ll go in and show off.”

But Rita, who left the show to pursue movies opportunities in the US, doesn’t sound like she would be best pleased if she found out Love Island host Maya had been moving in on her Jonathan.

He laughs: “I’ve got to be careful what I say about Rita because she’ll read this and phone me up afterwards. I think she’s quite guarding of our relationship.

‘Maya’s a robust character’

“I don’t think she’s had FOMO [fear of missing out] because she’s been so busy.

“She was texting me on the set of a movie she’s filming and sent me some shots of her getting the make-up on, and she said, ‘Look at this, look — this is amazing’.

“She was in town a while ago. I had hoped to meet up with her but she was only here for a few days.”

Despite being so close to singer Rita, there’s no doubt that Jonathan sounds more than a little captivated by her replacement.

He says: “Although we all missed Rita, we all loved working with Maya. I think Maya’s her own special creation, you know, because she’s got an interesting life.

“She grew up in one of the tougher parts of Bristol and had some tragedy in her life.

“So she’s a robust character, but really fun. She’s kind of someone who brings the party but there’s more to her than that.”

Intrigue is obviously at the heart of The Masked Singer, where Jonathan and Maya sit on the guessing panel alongside Mo Gilligan and Davina McCall.

Now the final is here and speculation is rife as to who is behind the outfits of the last trio of characters — Dressed Crab, Wolf and Pufferfish.

The idea of finding out who is underneath the masks is obviously a thrilling prospect for all four panellists.

Although we all missed Rita, we all loved working with Maya. I think Maya’s her own special creation, you know, because she’s got an interesting life

Jonathan Ross

But as host Joel Dommett discovered when he told Macy Gray to “take it off”, it can occasionally be a terrifying one, too.

The US singer was clearly furious that she had been ejected from the competition and stormed off stage, leaving production staff begging her to come back.

Poor Joel later struggled to get more than one-word answers out of her, so Jonathan valiantly pitched in and used all his chat show skills to make it a less agonising experience. But only slightly.

So what are his thoughts on the debacle, which still made for compulsive viewing?

Jonathan says: “I don’t think it was my interview technique. I think it was just me being a relatively compassionate human.

“I wanted to try to make that moment on stage for her less awkward. That’s all.

A man in a striped suit interviews a contestant dressed as a frog in a cupcake costume on The Masked Singer.

Host Joel Dommett with Toad, aka Macy Gray[/caption]

Macy stormed off the show stage[/caption]

“I was trying to keep her engaged with it so she wouldn’t look bad. And I also wanted her to maybe leave with a smile.

“So I made some jokes about Joel to try to move the focus from what had happened and away from her. But really I was just trying to make it less difficult for her.

“I was a little surprised at her reaction, but I can understand why someone might feel vulnerable in that moment.

“Especially if you are a very, very, talented professional singer and you think, ‘Why am I going out now?’ But that’s the kind of nature of it. It’s a guessing game, not a talent show.

“There’s always a few people who aren’t singers who can’t sing. If it was a talent show they’d all go out in the first week. But where would the fun be in that?

“Ultimately, it’s the audience that has decided who’s in the bottom two. It’s not us. And I think we’d all guessed pretty much it was her by then.

‘Dressed Crab’s a superstar’

“So it was the choice we had — do we send someone home when we don’t know who it is and we know the audience probably don’t know, or do we send someone home who we’ve kind of figured out even though they’re a great talent?

“So the option was, let’s send the person home and see if we are right. That was all it came down to, really.”

Although Jonathan enjoys the guessing games in the studio, he ends up playing it all over again when he watches the show back at home.

It’s recorded months in advance, and often by the time the series actually airs he has forgotten which celebrities were inside which outfits.

But it turns out he’s not alone among the struggling guessers.

He admits: “We all forget! Every series I’ll get a text from Davina when it’s going out, saying, ‘Who was Tattoo again?’ And I’ll go: ‘Oh, was that Kate Garraway?’ No, it wasn’t Kate Garraway, she was this one.

“I go, ‘OK, I’ve forgotten. I’ll text Joel to see who Tattoo was again.’

“So it’s quite fun when you watch it on TV. Sometimes I’m watching with my wife and I’m like, ‘I don’t even remember that one being on it!’ ”

The star does remember who is in the final, though, and he reckons we will be impressed by the celebrities who are eventually unmasked.

Jonathan said: “Dressed Crab is a great singer, clearly a superstar and has given us amazing performances all the way through.

I’ve got to be careful what I say about Rita because she’ll read this and phone me up afterwards. She’s quite, you know, guarding of our relationship!

Jonathan Ross

“Wolf, once again, is a great singer — a different kind of singer, I think. And in a different sort of field of singing.

“He’s someone who would be just as comfortable in musicals as he would be on stage with a band.

“He’s someone who’s had plenty of experience and has the talent to match.

“And then there’s Pufferfish — once again, amazing vocal performances that blew us away. It’s really hard to guess.

“I normally find it harder to guess a female vocalist than the male ones because when they’re technically that good, they tend to be better at disguising their voice.

“There’s some great names yet to be unmasked. You’ll see.”