The Masked Singer FINAL 2022: Natalie Imbruglia is revealed as Panda and crowned the WINNER

Natalie Imbruglia was crowned the winner of The Masked Singer 2022 on Saturday night after being revealed as Panda. 

The songstress, 47, beat Charlotte Church who was unmasked as Mushroom in second place and Westlife star Mark Feehily who was revealed to be Robobunny in third place.     

Natalie impressed judges Rita Ora, Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Joss Stone on the night when she sang Taylor Swift’s hit Blank Space, before performing a duet with comedian Jason Manford, who was Hedgehog in series one. 

This year’s final saw Panda, Mushroom and Robobunny battle it out to be crowned the 2022 champion after beating off competition from nine other quirky characters. 

Speaking after the unmasking Natalie said: ‘I just loved being Panda! I stayed in an American accent the whole time to hide it! 

‘I really thought Rita and Davina would guess as they know me! I got to make friends with a Mushroom and Robobunny. It’s just been great.’ 

Speaking in an interview after the show Natalie explained why she decided to take part in the series, saying: ‘I did it for my son. He loves the character I chose. 

‘I also thought it would be fun to sing with a mask on, no need to spend hours in hair and make-up. I liked the idea of hiding my identity and putting on an accent to throw people off the scent. I guess it’s also an acting gig.’

Asked if it was hard keeping it all a secret she added: ‘I found it quite hard as I’m a very open person. So, I had to create some interesting white lies about what I was working on and I had to avoid people which wasn’t hard as we worked long hours.’

Natalie went on to explain that she got very nervous during the competition, saying: ‘I was terrified and I can’t remember the first two performances. 

‘I thought the mask would make me feel more confident but it took a while to get used to. Your voice is booming back at you so that is strange at first. By the third performance I was loving it. You sweat a lot too so that made me feel better about eating all the treats in the dressing room.’ 

Speaking in her final interview Charlotte, 35, gave her reasons for taking part, explaining: ‘I took on the challenge because I liked the idea of the show being entirely centered around the voice, and I haven’t sung in the public eye for quite some time now so it felt like the perfect opportunity. 

‘Also, I really wanted to design my own costume as I thought this would be very exciting to do, and it really was.’

On the issue of secret-keeping she added: ‘It’s REALLY hard to keep the secret! I’ve even had to lie to my own mum.

‘I’m very excited for the big reveal, I think the majority of my friends and family will be very surprised because I don’t generally do too much in the public eye anymore, as I’m quite a private person. So, everyone will be incredibly shocked.’ 

Meanwhile Mark told why he wanted to sign up for the show, saying: ‘I was craving to do something different, outside of my comfort zone vocally, I really wanted to add comedy to my character so when it was agreed I would be allowed to do the two-voice thing I signed up.’

He then explained by he picked his unusual character: ‘For me when I saw Robobunny I immediately came up with the idea that the rabbit could duet with the robot and there could be two different characters which got me so excited…

‘I only wanted to do it if I could do something different to what had been done before and the feedback on Robobunny being unique and a first has been very strong.’

Robobunny kicked off the show with Run by Snow Patrol, with the judges heaping praise on the vocals and guessing it could be Ronan Keating or Charlie Simpson. 

Next up to perform was Panda who sang Taylor Swift’s hit Blank Space and Rita and Davina guessed afterwards that it could be High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens. 

Taking to the stage last was Mushroom who sang an opera song and wowed the judging panel. They guessed it could be Charlotte Church or Sheridan Smith. 

The trio also enlisted the help of former The Masked Singer stars as they performed show-stopping duets as well as their solo numbers.

The show saw the return of the first Masked Singer UK champion Nicola Roberts aka Queen Bee as she took to the stage to perform with Robobunny. They sang the iconic duet I Knew You Were Waiting for Me by Aretha Franklin and George Michael. 

Comedian Jason Manford, who was Hedgehog in series one, was back as he sang It Takes Two alongside Panda.

While series two’s Robin, aka Aston Merrygold, made an exciting comeback as he duetted with Mushroom. They say Rihanna’s dance hit We Found Love.

Meanwhile, also making a triumphant return was last year’s champion Joss Stone (Sausage), who this time swapped the stage for the judging panel as she joined Davina, Mo, Rita and Jonathan in trying to figure out the final three celebs.

The You Had Me hitmaker, 34, looked sensational in a sparkling silver jumpsuit as she joined in with the festivities of the show. 

Other guests featured during the third series included Dame Joan Collins and Olly Alexander.

Throughout this year’s series, the celebrity sleuths and viewers alike have been entertained by a plethora of dazzling performances, while being equally perplexed as they tried to guess who was behind the masks. 

The first casualty of this year’s contest was M People singer Heather Small, who was the first celebrity to be voted off after being unveiled as unveiled as Chandelier. 

Next out was Loose Women’s Gloria Hunniford, whose performance in her Snow Leopard costume failed to impress. 

The third star out was singer Will Young, who turned out to be Lionfish, while tennis legend Pat Cash became the fourth celebrity to be voted out after being unveiled as Bagpipes.

Next up was Keane frontman Tom Chaplin, who left the judged stumped when he was unmasked as poodle.  

Week six saw a double elimination with Jaime Winstone and Michael Owen voted out in sixth and seventh place as Firework and Doughnuts respectively. 

Meanwhile week seven saw yet another double elimination with Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams being outed as Rockhopper and singer Aled Jones unveiled as Traffic Cone.  

And amid all the performances and eliminations, the final three contestants have managed to allude everyone by keeping their true identities hidden – until the the final show that is!

A whole host of wrong (or right!) guesses hadbeen thrown their way, with predictions for Panda’s true identity ranging from Amanda Holden, Cheryl and Alesha Dixon.

While fans and judges have tipped the likes of The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue, Vinny Jones and Danny Jones of McFly to be Robobunny.

With Charlotte Church, Sheridan Smith and Irish actress Aisling Bea being names associated with Mushroom. 

The reality show originated in South Korea and its success spawned similar shows across the world including the UK and the US.

The first UK series saw former Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts revealed as the voice behind Queen Bee and was crowned the winner.

While the most recent series saw Joss Stone soar to victory after successfully hiding her identity in a Sausage costume.