WITH her curves poured into a tiny, figure-hugging dress, Maya Jama steps it up when she joins The Masked Singer panel this weekend.
But host Joel Dommett has revealed he put his foot in it from the off with one hilarious mis-step.
The clueless comic sang one of Stormzy’s songs to Maya — just weeks after her split from the rapper.
Joel said with a laugh: “I’m really bad at all of the gossip stuff, which is why I’m so naive in some Masked Singer reveals and suggestions.
“I remember, during the recording, I kept on singing a Stormzy song and then I felt really bad about it.
“I’ve got this song in my head, I can’t stop singing it, then someone sort of dragged me aside and said, ‘That’s someone that just broke up’.
“And I was like, ‘Arrgh, I’m the worst human being ever’, but Maya’s lovely and just laughed it off.”
Love Island host Maya and Stormzy ended their on-off relationship last July and, this week, The Sun revealed she is now dating Manchester City defender Ruben Dias.
Tonight, she will be seen for the first time on The Masked Singer, alongside panellists Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall and Mo Gilligan.
Maya has replaced pop star Rita Ora and will be part of the squad guessing which celebrity singers are hiding inside the costumes.
Disguises this series will include Dressed Crab, Kingfisher and Bush — plus a hilarious new addition modelled on the host himself, Giant Joel.
Joel says party girl Maya has brought a cool new vibe to proceedings. Speaking exclusively to The Sun, he revealed: “I would love to be invited to one of her cool outings or a cool party.
“I don’t get invited to cool parties anymore. I think people assume that I won’t go, so I don’t get invited, which is completely right. Maya is involved in a niche that me and certainly Jonathan don’t understand.
“Maya will say some sort of drill rapper and me and Jonathan are like, ‘what?’. That’s what I love about it.
“Maya is super cool and she’s surrounded by all these cool, beautiful people. And on this show, she’s next to Jonathan Ross — that is an entirely different vibe.”
Maya previously told how Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire pulled her for a chat at Cannes Film Festival — desperate for the inside scoop on Love Island. And Joel reckons fans will now be grilling her on who is hiding beneath the Masked Singer costumes.
He said: “She’ll be at her celebrity events now and people will be, ‘Who’s Giant Joel?’.
“That’s what I love about talking to Maya. She’s talking about meeting Tobey Maguire and I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I went to, you know, soft play with my baby yesterday’.”
There’s lots to love about The Masked Singer beyond its glamorous new addition.
Joel will tonight launch the sixth series of the ITV entertainment juggernaut, which is a family favourite and still nailing it in the ratings.
Fans are on tenterhooks, particularly to learn the identity of Giant Joel, who was introduced as a bonus character on the Christmas special.
The outfit is modelled on the show’s host and the celebrity hiding inside will be revealed this evening.
Joel said: “I’m so excited about Giant Joel. The first I heard about it, they said, ‘We’ve got something really exciting in this series and we can’t tell you what it is’.
“Finally, we had a slight pause in recording and there’s something really weird happening . . . and then Giant Joel came out.
“All I could think was someone’s painstakingly made this and figured out what my teeth look like and what my nose looks like and there’s someone inside who’s a celebrity.
“It blew my mind. I feel like I’ve been drawn in Leicester Square, it’s like Madame Tussauds.” Online sleuths are convinced Maya Jama might be behind the mask, whilst others reckon it could be Rita Ora bidding goodbye to the show.
She now works full time on the US version. Joel said: “Rita is absolutely smashing it in America, doing the Masked Singer.
“A lot of people thought one of the characters was Rita. Maya was sure that one of the people in the costumes was Mike Tyson — just the idea of Mike Tyson being in a costume is absolutely incredible.
Being on the panel is actually quite hard, because you’ve got to give interesting guesses that are good
Joel Dommett
“The Giant Joel reveal blew absolutely everyone’s mind. Another great thing this series is that someone gets very annoyed when they get voted out and they storm off stage. Seeing someone storm off in a massive costume . . . it was more of a shuffle!”
In the past, celebs linked to the panel have been revealed, such as when guest judge Jennifer Saunders unveiled Absolutely Fabulous co-star Julia Sawalha. In the Christmas special, one of their own even hopped out of a costume when Davina was named as Star.
Joel teased: “That’s always such a wonderful moment, when you’ve got someone who really knows someone.
“Being on the panel is actually quite hard, because you’ve got to give interesting guesses that are good guesses.
“But you’ve got to be entertaining with it. So Maya has fit in brilliantly and just gave some amazing guesses.”
This series will feature a string of new themed weeks, including a holiday special and a superhero episode.
Joel wears a caped suit for the latter, whilst Maya goes for a sexy bodysuit. There’s also a new raft of guest judges, including Line of Duty star Vicky McClure and Gavin & Stacey actor Rob Brydon.
Joel said: “Vicky McClure, just like obviously being a famous telly detective, she really got into it.
“Robbie Brydon was absolutely amazing. I mean, just the fact that he’s on Gavin & Stacey, you sort of forget that he’s in that and on Would I Lie to You?, which is one of the biggest panel shows.
“French and Saunders were amazing on the Christmas special.
“It’s weird to see people that you’ve just watched your entire childhood together.”
The Masked Singer has now spanned six series, two Christmas specials and even two I’m A Celebrity-themed editions. That’s before you even consider spin-off The Masked Dancer. Staying quiet about who’s who must be tough for Joel — especially in the gaps between big reveals at filming and the shows airing.
He said of keeping characters’ real identity a secret: “I actually am quite proud of myself. I don’t think I have ever slipped up.
“I’ve got a rule for myself when I’m not in the studio. I always call it by its character name, I never call it by the person who’s inside.
“I feel like I try and forget immediately, like I have one of those little Men In Black devices, when you forget everything.
“Sometimes I get home and my wife is like, ‘Who was it?’.
They know that they have to step it up every single series
Joel Dommett
“And I’m like, ‘Oh, I can’t remember’ because I’ve taught myself to forget. Sometimes, when we’re watching it [four months after it’s filmed], Jonathan will text me and be like, ‘Do you remember who this person is?’.
“And I’m like, ‘You know what? No!’.”
McFly’s Danny Jones won last year’s Masked Singer after a stonking turn as Piranha. But Joel reckons somehow bosses have managed to crank up the dial.
He said: “They know that they have to step it up every single series because they can’t have a series that’s worse than the last.
“It has to be bigger names and has to be better guesses.
“And it feels so much bigger with the twists and turns that we’ve put in.
“Hopefully we’re giving the viewers something extra and we are going to blow people’s minds.”
