The Masked Singer wrapped up for 2022 on Sunday night, where it was revealed that the winner was Mirrorball – who was unmasked as The Pussycat Doll’s Melody Thornton.
But one major detail in last night’s finale led to viewers calling out the reality show as ‘BS’ after Dave Hughes shocked viewers by correctly guessing Melody’s identity after an entire season of off-the-mark guesses.
She departed the girl group in 2010 to focus on her solo career.
(Image: Ten)Following the reveal, which seemed to shock panellists Mel B, Abbie Chatfield and Chrissy Swan as much as the rest of us, several fans took to Twitter to voice their suspicions that Hughesy had been given the name of the pop star by producers prior to the big moment.
“There’s no way Dave would know who melody Thornton is. Hell, if it wasn’t for her upstaging Nicole Shersawerser, I don’t think I’d know her either and I was in peak Pussycat Dolls demographic,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another added, “Absolutely ridiculous. So obvious they’ve told Hughesy to say Melody Thornton. They’ve built it up for him to finally get one right.”
The judges getting ready for the season finale!
(Image: Instagram)“It seemed pretty obvious this season that the producers already had the winner picked before the show started. There’s no way those judges could have worked out some of the clues in the 90 seconds or so the masked singer is performing,” a third mused.
Many also took umbrage with the fact that yet another international star took the crown, while fan favourites Rooster (Hugh Sheridan) and Snapdragon (Sheldon Riley) came in at second and third place.
Melody loved being on the singing competition.
(Image: Instagram)“Tonight’s results were a travesty. #sheldonriley was the true winner. Each week he wowed the judges with his impeccable vocal, each week they got goosebumps and were brought to tears, and you are telling me that the votes aren’t rigged? We don’t need US stars,” one viewer declared.
Another added, “Also this is 2 seasons in a row that an international person has won #MaskedSingerAU. Snapdragon was such a better performer.”
Even Gogglebox star Yvie Jones had her suspicions on the final vote count’s legitimacy, writing, “And a relative unknown winning Australia’s masked singer is weird. Don’t get me wrong. Her performances are worthy of her winning but we don’t really know her!”
What will they come up with next season?
(Image: Instagram)Despite the backlash, the pop star seemed to have a great time on the show.
Asked to describe her The Masked Singer Australia experience, Melody said: “It was just so nice to have lovely comments, and encouragement as well, to bring this character to life. This really helped my relationship with myself. It brought me closer to myself. [Ultimately], you sing because you want other people to be inspired to sing.”
She now joins previous winners of The Masked Singer which include international pop star Anastacia, Cody Simpson, as well as singer and actress Bonnie Anderson.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, New Idea.
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