Charlotte Church lied to her own mum to keep 'The Masked Singer' secret

Charlotte Church went to extreme lengths to keep her involvement in The Masked Singer a secret — even lying to her own mother about it.

The 35-year-old classical performer turned pop star was unveiled as Mushroom on Saturday's final, which was won by Natalie Imbruglia as Panda.

Read more: Davina McCall says Masked Singer fans try to trick her in supermarket

Also unmasked was Westlife singer Mark Feehily, who had wowed viewers with his unorthodox performances within the Robobunny costume.

"I took on the challenge because I liked the idea of the show being entirely centred around the voice," Church told the The Sun.

Watch: Natalie Imbruglia wins the 2022 series of The Masked Singer UK

She added: "I haven't sung in the public eye for quite some time now so it felt like the perfect opportunity. I really wanted to design my own costume.

"It's really hard to keep the secret. I've even had to lie to my own mum."

Read more: Joel Dommett reveals celebs he'd love to unmask

Church, who spoke in a Northern accent as Mushroom, had fooled many viewers — though some had her worked out weeks ago — with popular guesses including Sheridan Smith, Vicky McClure and Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall.

But by the time the final guess came around, most of the judges had managed to rumble the secret singer, with Rita Ora, Mo Gilligan and Jonathan Ross all guessing correctly.

Church has been a popular guess on all three series of The Masked Singer UK, with fans unearthing a tweet from January 2020 in which she complained: "I'm not on that bloody show."

It was Imbruglia's adorable panda costume, though, which emerged victorious at the end of the show — despite the fury of viewers who preferred Robobunny and Mushroom.

Read more: US series of The Masked Singer reveals wildest contestant yet

"I just loved being Panda. When I put the costume on I would just become Panda," said Imbruglia after her win.

She added: "I just had so much fun. I made friends with a traffic cone and a mushroom. This is an amazing show and I am thrilled to have been a part of it."

This year's Masked Singer final secured an average viewership of 6.3 million viewers, down from the enormous 8.6 million viewers who tuned in last year.

Watch: Charlotte Church gives update on adoptive father's health