The Project’s Gorgi Coghlan was unmasked in the show-stopping Grand Finale of The Masked Singer Australia on Monday night, much to the delight of fans.
Clues referencing her work as a reporter, her equestrian achievements and her former career as a teacher led many to believe that she was behind that cute monster mask – not to mention, she’s been known to belt out a tune or two.
“Some shows just have a magical touch,” Gorgi tells TV WEEK of her turn on the fun-filled reality TV series. “From the get-go it just felt like there was something pretty special about this show.
“I’m just so glad Australia embraced it, loved it, and really understood it and went with the craziness.”
The 44-year-old star admits she was “shocked” by how many people guessed that she was the one donning the furry pink costume.
From the plumber in her boutique hotel in Ballarat, to former teaching colleagues, many people in Gorgi’s life have been waiting to see if it really was her.
“I’ve had texts from people of such a diverse range of ages and different backgrounds. People who I NEVER thought would have watched The Masked Singer. It just brought as all in and embraced us all and made us all happy.”
Gorgi had a blast as monster on The Masked Singer.
Gorgi – who regularly co-hosts The Project alongside Carrie Bickmore, Peter Helliar, Waleed Aly and Lisa Wilkinson – says lying to her colleagues was one of the toughest parts of the gig.
“They were all like ‘we reckon it’s you’ and I was just lying the whole time,” she says. “Waleed would be like ‘you sure it’s not you? It sounds like you’ I’m like, ‘when would I have done that? I’m so busy.’ Just lie, lie, lie.”
Only her husband and manager knew she was in the show, and Gorgi recalls one night where she felt particularly guilty about lying to her friends.
Up in Sydney to film The Masked Singer, Gorgi’s manager had to tell The Project team a “white lie” when asked if she could fill in one Friday. With Gorgi unable to step in, Carrie was called to the desk.
“I’m sitting there dressed up as the monster about to go on stage, and I see an Instagram shot of Carrie being called in to work on a Friday with her baby. She doesn’t work on Friday,” Gorgi says.
“And the caption was something like ‘when you’re called in to work with no babysitter’ and she’s got a photo of her on the desk with her bubba and I’m just looking at it going ‘oh my god!’ I screenshot it to my manager like ‘oh my god they’ve called Carrie in’ and I felt so bad she had to go in!
“Carrie was probably thinking where the bloody hell is Gorgi? and I was like, I can’t wait until I can say to her I’m so sorry you got called in on that Friday, cos I was off being a monster.”
Carrie poses with baby Adelaide on The Project desk.
The Project stars weren’t the only ones kept in the dark, with Gorgi keeping the role secret from her daughter Molly Rose. Though it was probably a good thing, with her classmates very keen to know more.
“I made the mistake of walking in to the school courtyard with Molly Rose last week, and I just got swarmed by children,” she reveals.
“I was like oh my god, I’ve got to get out of here! And I could hear a couple of them saying ‘you ask her’ ‘no you ask her’ it was just so beautiful and cute.”
Though Molly Rose didn’t know, she has been gifted a special reminder of her cool mum’s gig.
“My girlfriend made my daughter a mini-monster, because she suspected it was me,” Gorgi reveals. “And she’s taking it off to school today for show and tell.
“I hope some other kid doesn’t bring a bloody rock from the creek cos she’s going to blow them out of the water today,” she says, laughing.
Gorgi with her daughter, Molly Rose, and husband, Simon.
Though we’ve come to know Gorgi as a presenter on our screens, she’s also had some pretty huge gigs in the music world.
Gorgi has performed at Carols By Candlelight three times, she’s recorded music with her Project co-host Waleed for charity album Spirit of Christmas and she was even handpicked by Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor to star in the musical We Will Rock You back in 2003.
“I was in the original cast and I did it for nine months, it was such a beautiful time in my life,” Gorgi says of the Queen project. “I’ve always thought I’d love to go back and do musical theatre again. I love the magic of theatre, so if that opportunity came up that would be another dream come true.”
Fans who enjoyed seeing Gorgi perform on The Masked Singer will be excited to hear she’s performing a live show in Melbourne later this year. The aptly named ‘Unmasked: An Evening with Gorgi Coghlan’ will be held on Thursday, December 12, at Chapel off Chapel in Prahran.
“I’m so excited about it!” she says of the announcement. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do for 10 or 20 years, and now monster’s pushed me over the edge. No excuses now, let’s do it.”
With just one show in Melbourne for now, Gorgi says it’s flattering that she’s received so many comments from other Aussies wanting to see her perform.
“I’d love to consider something like a tour, that would be wonderful.”
Gorgi is taking this show on the road!
Of course, many viewers took to Twitter after the unmasking to see if Gorgi was planning on releasing any original music.
“You know, I’d love to do an album or something,” she admits. “I didn’t do the show for that reason, but if that’s what comes of it that would just be such a bonus.”
When we point out that superstar Miley Cyrus – who recently began dating winner Cody Simpson – was probably one of the viewers watching her sing last night, she laughs.
“Oh my god! How serendipitous, hey?” Gorgi says. “So much fun for the show. It’s so fabulous and so Hollywood. It’s just crazy.”
Perhaps Gorgi can pick up a few album-making tips from her new Robot pal!
