Who won The Masked Singer 2023? How Charlie Simpson was ...

The latest series of one of the weirder reality shows to grace our screens has concluded, with the winner of The Masked Singer finally unmasked.

An original line-up of 12 contestants was whittled down to three for Saturday night’s final: Rhino, Phoenix and Fawn.

But only one of them could follow in the footsteps of Nicola Roberts and Joss Stone to claim victory – here’s everything you need to know.

Who won The Masked Singer 2023?

In the end, Rhino was crowned the winner of the 2023 series of The Masked Singer – and the mystery performer’s identity was revealed to be the Busted frontman Charlie Simpson.

The singer, 37, who also fronted the harder rock band Fightstar, admitted he did not expect to win the show and just tried to “remember the lyrics and have fun”.

He said: “I was terrified the entire time because the thing I was scared most of was remembering lyrics. I often forget lyrics to my own songs.”

Simpson had the judges fooled along the way but Rita Ora and Davina McCall correctly guessed his identity the final.

Lee Mack joined the usual judging line-up for the final (Photo: ITV)

Jonathan Ross thought it could have been singer James Arthur, while guest judge Lee Mack opted for George Ezra.

Simpson was the first to perform solo on the night, delivering a powerful rendition of “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi while dressed as a cowboy.

Ora said Rhino had her “favourite voice in the whole wide world” before guessing it could be Simpson behind the mask.

Former contestant Harlequin, who was previously revealed as singer-songwriter Gabrielle, also returned to sing “Beneath Your Beautiful” by Labrinth alongside Rhino, and she also guessed that it was Arthur.

After his reveal, the singer admitted that his bandmates in Busted and Fightstar all guessed it was him behind the mask “within the first two seconds of hearing Rhino sing”.

Simpson, who has two children with his wife Anna Barnard, revealed he decided to do the show for his family, saying: “I thought it would be something that my kids would love to watch and also it looked like a really fun show to do.”

More from TelevisionWhat happened in The Masked Singer final?

Phoenix took second place in the final, and was unmasked as Kaiser Chiefs frontman and former The Voice judge Ricky Wilson.

The singer, who said that had enjoyed his time on the show, saying: “It gets quite infectious. You really want to win it.”

Ora was in shock that he was behind the mask as she has worked alongside Wilson in the past, adding: “If you sang how you sing I would have got you in a second.”

Wilson, who sang “Sway” by Michael Buble accompanied by dancers in white suits and bird masks in the final, also said he was “very pleased” to be mistaken for actor David Tennant by McCall.

Mo Gilligan thought he was a “great showman,” which made him consider DJ Mark Ronson, while Take That’s Mark Owen and Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell were also among the guesses.

The latest series of The Masked singer ran across eight weeks (Photo: ITV)

The first contestant to be unmasked in the final was Fawn, who was revealed to be the the All Saints singer Natalie Appleton.

McCall admitted she had all the judges “flummoxed” about her true identity, while Ross said: “We don’t get to hear your voice like that that often, where you’re singing those ballads. What an amazing act.”

Following her reveal, Appleton said: “I loved fooling you guys, it was such a buzz” and that she had enjoyed Gilligan mistaking her for Country star Shania Twain, adding: “I had the best time, it’s been amazing. I do recommend.”

The power of Fawn’s voice led Ross to believe it could be All Saints singer Shaznay Lewis while McCall thought it could be singer Samantha Fox. Mack opted for actress Jenna Coleman and Ora guessed actress Suzanne Shaw was behind the mask.

The Masked Singer 2023 reveals in full

Here are all the reveals from the 2023 series of The Masked Singer, in reverse order:

Rhino: Charlie Simpson (Singer) Phoenix: Ricky Wilson (Singer) Fawn: Natalie Appleton (Singer) Jellyfish: Amber Riley (Singer/actress) Jacket Potato: Richie Sambora (Musician) Otter: Daisy May Cooper (Actress/writer) Knitting: Claire Richards (Singer) Pigeon: Katherine Ryan (Comedian) Rubbish: Stephen Hendry (Snooker player) Cat & Mouse: Martin Kemp (Musician/actor) and Shirlie Kemp (Singer) Piece of Cake: Lulu (Singer) Ghost: Chris Kamara (Footballer/presenter)

The three previous winners before Simpson were Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts, pop star Joss Stone and the “Torn” singer Natalie Imbruglia.

Additional reporting from Press Association