Popular ITV show returned with the Christmas special, though it was fairly straightforward to determine the hidden icon

The Masked Singer Mistletoe was unveiled (Image: ITV)

The Masked Singer made its eagerly awaited return to ITV with a Christmas special ahead of its highly anticipated comeback next month. Host Joel Dommett resembled an East 17 singer as he fronted the show’s festive episode, which also saw panellists Jonathan Ross, Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall and Maya Jama reunite.

They were tasked with guessing the identities of four masked celebrities making their Masked Singer debuts as Christmas-themed items. As the series got under way, fans also took to social media to share their predictions, but as Joel revealed Mistletoe was a finalist, the judges shared their guesses before the star was unmasked as This Morning host Dermot O’Leary. Taking to social media with elation, one fan posted: “Dermot was the easiest voice to guess ever.” As another added: ” Dermot was obvious as soon as I heard his voice #maskedsingeruk #maskedsinger.”

Dermot was unmasked as Mistletoe (Image: ITV)

A third viewer exclaimed: “Haha, I was right! I got it from the voice, not the clues. And I said it before, Maya.”

While a fourth remarked: “Got to be said, Dermot has a cracking pair of pins on him.”

“Mistletoe is… DERMOT O’LEARY! Congratulations, Dermot, for winning Masked Singer Christmas Spesh,” praised another fan.

As a sixth pointed out a major clue and penned: “Mistletoe is 100% Dermot O’leary, you can just hear it in his voice, plus the jingle clue and Irish accent, it’s all there.”

Although the judges had guessed correctly, the episode was almost thrown into chaos after Joel prematurely confirmed that it was Dermot before he was unmasked as the winner.

The judges had guess mistletoe was Dermot (Image: ITV)

After recognising Dermot’s laugh from beneath the costume, Joel blurted out his name before sinking to the ground and laughing at his mistake.

Before the episode aired, Joel opened up about the huge blunder and said: “I can’t believe I did it. This person was chuckling in the costume, and it’s a chuckle I know well, and I said their name. It just came out. Their actual name!”

The presenter added: “Thankfully, [the judges] had pretty much guessed who it was. But producers did reiterate to me that I wasn’t to do that again. I was on the naughty step.”

Alongside the celebrity contestants, the Christmas special also had surprise appearances from pantomime legends, including Fairy Godmother (Su Pollard), the dame (Christopher Biggins), Wicked Stepmother (Lesley Joseph) and Prince Charming (Basil Brush), who provided hints for the judges.