Identity of Rubbish revealed as another celebrity leaves The Masked Singer

Scottish snooker player Stephen Hendry has been revealed as the character Rubbish on The Masked Singer.

The 54-year-old former world champion landed in the bottom two of the ITV reality singing contest on Saturday with fellow contestant Jacket Potato following an audience vote on all the contestants’ performances, meaning they had to sing again.

For his second song, Hendry opted for My Old Man’s A Dustman by Lonnie Donegan while Jacket Potato sang Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders.

After the performances, the judges voted to save Jacket Potato and gave their final guesses of who Rubbish could – be with suggestions including The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades, presenter Paddy McGuinness and Olympic cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Judge Jonathan Ross was the closest as he thought it could be snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan, but he fell slightly short of the mark.

Following his reveal, Hendry said he loved the show and that it was his “guilty pleasure” to watch.

Asked why he decided to take on the challenge, he added: “To try something completely out of my comfort zone.

“I have had the opportunity to do other shows that would have put me in that same ‘uncomfortable’ position, but being completely hidden made it so much easier for me to let loose and get my head around the challenge.”

He also revealed that he chose the overflowing green recycling bin costume as the colours reminded him of a snooker table – and that how it restricted his movement was an added bonus as then he would not be made to dance.

Hendry initially opened Saturday’s episode with a lively rendition of the Kaiser Chiefs’ classic track Ruby, accompanied by characters dressed as bumble bees.

Based on the clues referencing sports, the judges offered up their guesses – with Ross thinking Olympic gymnast Max Whitlock could be behind the mask, and singer-songwriter Rita Ora opting for Paddy McGuinness.

Comedian Mo Gilligan thought it might be Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, while TV presenter Davina McCall thought it could be The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades due to the link to rubbish.

Elsewhere in the episode, Fawn, Jacket Potato, Pigeon and Rhino also took to the stage.

Fawn, who gave a melodic rendition of Madonna’s Into The Groove, was guessed as Australian singer Delta Goodrem, Australian actress and singer Dannii Minogue, singer Anna Marie and actress and presenter Jacqueline Jossa.

Meanwhile, Rhino delivered a powerful rendition of P!nk’s Try for their performance while dressed as a cowboy – and based on the quality of the voice, the judges thought it could be US singer Joe Jonas, former The X Factor winner James Arthur, rugby player and former The X Factor: Celebrity contestant Thom Evans, or US actor Anthony Edwards.

Pigeon got the crowd involved as they performed Usher’s Yeah! and the character’s playful energy made the judges guess a comic or presenter may be behind the mask – with guesses including comedian and actress Emily Atack, former The Only Way Is Essex star Gemma Collins and Loose Women stars Linda Robson or Stacey Solomon.

While Jacket Potato delivered a rendition of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen for their first song, which Ora described as “crisp”, and thought the food reference could mean it might be chef Gino D’Acampo.

Among the other guesses were physicist and former musician Brian Cox, US actor Ken Jeong and singer Michael Ball.

The Masked Singer continues on Saturdays at 7pm on ITV1 & ITVX.