ITV has reportedly recruited Maya Jama as a new judge on The Masked Singer UK after original judge Rita Ora is said to have quit after five series. Rita, 33, has been on the panel since the first series but is reportedly leaving so that she can make a movie and will now feature on the American instalment instead.
Love Island host Maya Jama, 29, has bagged her first primetime role on ITV1 and according to The Sun, will be joining Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan on the judging panel.
A source told the publication: "This is a huge deal for Maya, who’s now one of telly’s fastest-rising stars. It puts her in front of a huge Saturday night audience every week on a show watched by everyone from kids to pensioners.
"Up to now she’s had a following which is very young due to Love Island, but signing for The Masked Singer would take her career into a whole new league." During the last series which concluded this year in February, singer Rita had to sit out of some episodes due to scheduling conflicts where she was filling in for Nicole Scherzinger on the US version.
Instead, she was replaced by a series of guest panellists, namely Charlie Simpson, Olly Murs and Jennifer Saunders. Ellie Goulding, Lenny Henry, Lorraine Kelly and Rob Brydon also appeared as a fifth guest judge on the panel.
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The source continued to the aforementioned publication: "Rita’s got a huge film commitment this year, so her team are in talks about schedules at the moment and trying to work it out."
Express.co.uk has contacted ITV as well as Maya and Rita's representatives for comment.
The last series was won by Piranha, who was unmasked as Mcfly singer Danny Jones, following a tense final.
After the first audience vote, host Joel Dommett revealed that Lemar had been performing under the guise of the bug for eight weeks prior.
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However, judges Davina, Mo, Rita, Jonathan and Rob were unsurprised to see Channel 4’s Alex Brooker in the costume.
Following the 39-year-old’s rousing rendition of Chesney Hawke’s 'The One and Only' it was finally Piranha’s turn to be unmasked. As Joel led the chants of 'Take It Off', Piranha was flanked by his two suited bodyguards.
Appeasing the raucous crowd, the duo helped the character to take off his mask and Piranha was revealed as none other than McFly icon Danny Jones.
Following the champion’s reveal, Davina, 56, immediately recalled that she had initially guessed the star’s identity correctly.
