Masked Singer: Tom Chaplin revealed as Poodle as he is eliminated from show

Tom Chaplin has become the fifth contestant to be eliminated from The Masked Singer as he was unmasked as Poodle.

Chaplin is best known as the lead singer of the band Keane.

During Saturday night’s (22 January) episode, he performed a cover of Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten”.

Robobunny and Poodle ended up in the bottom two at the end of the episode, with the judges eventually opting to send Robobunny through to the next round.

Speaking to ITV after the episode, Chaplin explained the reasoning behind his choice of costume.

“One of the prerequisites of doing the show was that I had to be a poodle,” he said. “My wife had a poodle who lived to 17 and was an integral part of our lives, so it seemed like the perfect choice.”

Asked about the judges’ guesses at his identity, Chaplin described them as “hopeless”.

He said: “Amongst the guesses were Snoop Dogg, Grayson Perry and a vague suggestion that I simply must be a drag queen!

“I was kind of flattered that they eventually got stuck on Mika, who’s a great singer and performer. I have to admit to being surprised that Jonathan didn’t have an inkling it was me, especially given that I must have been on his TV show several times over the years.”

The episode also saw all eight remaining contestants perform together for the first time.

Last week featured the unmasking of this series’ fourth contestant, Bagpipes, who was revealed to be former tennis player Pat Cash.

The Masked Singer continues next Saturday at 7pm on ITV.