Jonathan Ross has been singled out by viewers of ITV’s The Masked Singer for his reaction to Macy Gray’s meltdown during Saturday night’s show. In a surprising reveal, American singer Macy appeared visibly upset after being eliminated.
The I Try songstress initially refused to return to the stage, only giving one-word answers to host Joel Dommett’s questions when she finally came back to be unmasked as Toad In The Hole. After Macy’s sing-off with Bear, Jonathan suggested she had been voted off because her distinctive voice made it easy to identify her.
This seemed to anger Macy, who stormed off the stage after Bear was saved, leaving Joel and fellow panelists Maya Jama, Mo Gilligan and Davina McCall confused. After some time, Joel confirmed Toad would return to unmask herself, reports the Mirror.
It is reported it took over an hour to persuade Macy to come back. When asked if she had enjoyed herself, Macy simply replied, “yeah”. ‘ Viewers were shocked by the drama, with some labelling Macy a “sore loser” while others found her reaction “hilarious”.
One fan wrote: “Macy Gray is FUMING that she’s been voted off already hahaha Oh my goodness! They are really trying to get an interview out of her and she’s having none of it.” Another added: “Macy Gray almost in tears raging at being voted off The Masked Singer while dressed as a toad in the hole is just peak British TV.”
While Macy’s reaction was the main talking point, many other ITV viewers praised Jonathan Ross for “saving the show” with his quick-witted management of an awkward situation. The experienced talk show host took the reins during the interview with Macy, who struggled to remember one of her songs used in the film Shrek, responding with terse remarks.
Keeping his composure, Jonathan persevered with the chat, even attempting to inject some humour regarding host Joel’s revealing attire. And his reaction didn’t go unnoticed, with fans praising his professionalism online.
One person said: “Watching Jonathan Ross go into professional presenter mode to rescue the nightmare of a sulking Macy Gray, unexpected on a Saturday night.” Another added: “Outstanding from Ross when the rest of the panel completely clammed up, consummate professional,” while a third said: “Thank god for the utter professional Mr Ross you saved the day while the other judges hid away.”
One viewer remarked on the uncomfortable unmasking moment, saying: “Well that was probably the most awkward unmasking to date for the #MaskedSingerUK – Macy Gray was NOT a happy Toad! And bless him Jonathan Ross just kept asking her questions!”
Macy Gray, renowned for her Grammy-winning hit I Try, is well-acquainted with The Masked Singer, having competed in the Australian edition in 2021 as Atlantis and returning as a wild card in the US version in 2023, where she secured fourth place.
However, it’s been reported after an unexpected exit from the show, producers spent close to an hour persuading her to come back for the unmasking and final performance. “This has never happened on The Masked Singer before,” an insider disclosed to The Sun. They continued: “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. It was the shock of it for her as well as the upset and in that moment she had a very raw, human reaction and wanted out. For a professional performer to reach that point shows how badly she felt.”
During the show, Macy, who was wearing a Shakespearean-style ensemble performed Sunny, while Bush gave a moving performance of Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand. Judge Maya Jama labelled Pufferfish’s take on Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun “stunning”, meanwhile Wolf took on Barry Manilow’s classic Copacabana (At the Copa) and Bear sang Will Smith’s Miami.
When hauled back out to sing for their place in the show, Bear’s emotive performance of Stay by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber was enough to see them saved over Toad In The Hole’s It Must Have Been Love by Roxette.
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