Macy Gray Storms Off Masked Singer UK Set After Judges Fail to Save Her

Immediately after the judges opted not to save the iconic singer, who was performing as Toad in the Hole, Gray stormed off the stage, leaving her competitor, Bear, and the whole show stunned.

She did ultimately make her way back to the stage for her unmasking and post-reveal interview with host Joel Dommett, but it might have been less awkward had she just disappeared altogether.

While eliminated contestants often share funny stories, or explain why they chose to do such a silly show as The Masked Singer, Dommett struggled to pull one-word answers out of the artist before finally throwing in the towel and wrapping the episode.

The host went on to share the instantly-viral interview moment to his Instagram, captioning it simply, “Lol.” Judge Maya Jama shared the moment Gray walked off stage, captioning it, “Me at any minor inconvenience.”

After the broadcast, the host opened up a bit more with The Daily Mail about the awkward encounter, joking that by his thinking, an early elimination is a “win-win” for contestant, as they “get the same money and don’t have to do anything else.”

As for what happened on the stage, he laughed, “This is why The Masked Singer is so good, it doesn’t matter if you’re a good singer or if you’re not, the show doesn’t sit in either camp.”

He went on to argue, “The case with Macy is she is a legend, she has a recognisable voice and she might as well go because we all know it is her, and they put the other person through because we still don’t know who they are.”

Gray was eliminated in the third week of the competition, but only her second appearance. There are nine masked singers still competing who’ve yet to be revealed.

As for Gray storming off the set, Dommett said he couldn’t help but see the humor in it. “You can’t be vexed when you’re dressed as a toad. In my professional career — I love Macy, she is incredible, great voice —- but I have never witnessed anything more funny than a 6ft toad storming off,” he told The Daily Mail. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Gray fared much better in 2023 when she competed on Season 10 of the US version of The Masked Singer as Sea Queen. There, she made it to the show’s finale, but had to settle for a fourth place finish behind Janel Parrish, John Schneider, and winner Ne-Yo.

But The Daily Mail was quick to note this wasn’t Gray’s first awkward moment on an international version of the hit show. According to judge Dave “Hughesy” Hughes of the Australian version, the singer “refused to leave” after she was voted off.

“Macy Gray had such passion for The Masked Singer that when she was told that she had to leave the show, which you saw last night, she refused to leave the show,” Hughes said of Gray the next day on 2Day FM’s Morning Crew.

“She said, “No, I’m continuing in the show,” and there had to be a discussion which went for quite a while as to, “No, you have to leave,'” he added. “The thing is, we can’t do the end of the show unless the head comes off.”

As for what happened during the filming of this past weekend’s unmasking, The Sun reports, citing a source, that Gray’s reaction was because she felt “totally blindsided” by her early elimination.

The outlet further reports that despite the relatively quick return to the stage seen on ITV, it was an hour-long process backstage to convince the singer to go back on stage to get unmasked before the cameras.

Social media lit up after the unprecedented Masked Singer moment unfolded, with many criticizing the singer for her reaction, while others supported the singer, arguing that just recognizing who her voice is not a good reason to eliminate her.