EXCLUSIVE: Harriet Rose has revealed the one condition she had when signing up for The Masked Singer UK, and revealed that she often feels like a member of the secret service backstage
A star of The Masked Singer UK has admitted that she had one strict condition when she took the job. Presenter Harriet Rose currently presents the digital series The Masked Singer: The After Mask, and admitted that working on the programme is one of the most fun aspects of her presenting career.
The 35-year-old West Midlands-born star revealed that over the course of her career, which has seen her appear on Fubar Radio, as well as KISS Breakfast and Kissstory, she’s been “very lucky”, which she has worked hard to hone so that all of her projects are “silly and fun”.
But while she still enjoys getting her teeth into a tough project, she admits that The Masked Singer is “the most silly sausage’s show on this planet.” It comes after Strictly Come Dancing’s Gorka Marquez pulls out of show.
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Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Harriet explained that she found it hilarious explaining the show’s concept to her French girlfriend, as the celebrities have to disguise themselves as animals and objects.
“That, as a concept, is going to be the most fun thing you’ve ever worked on; it’s so silly,” she laughed. Harriet continued: “It’s actually very serious though. I feel like an MI6 agent as well because it’s so secretive, and I have to say, if anyone ever tries to ruin that, it would be the worst thing ever.
“I said when I got the job, ‘Please, I don’t want to know, I don’t want to be part of the inner circle that knows,’ because some people obviously have to know. It’s not like these random celebrities are going to be walking the halls. There are people to look after them. I begged and pleaded because it was a new show, they’d never done it before. I said ‘Please, can I not know?’ I don’t know, I really don’t know,w and it’s much more enjoyable when you get involved and enjoy it.”
The presenter joked that she gets “so scared” talking about the programme due to the levels of secrecy surrounding it. Despite not knowing who the contestants are, there was one that she instantly guessed. “I screamed so loudly because I realised it was Natalie Cassidy, Sonia from EastEnders, aka an icon and legend!” Harriet said. She continued: “It was something about the way she sang one word. It was the only one I’ve ever guessed, and it was something so inane, it’s things like you’re walk or how you say a certain word.”
“The only person I’ve ever guessed correctly was Natalie Cassidy; it was like I was Isaac Newton and I’d just invented the lightbulb,” she laughed. But Harriet wants a close friend of hers to take part in the show and have them lie to her, as she wouldn’t notice them on the stage.
Last year, Harriet served as a celebrity guest on Celebrity Big Brother’s Late and Live, alongside legendary housemate Tiffany Pollard. Speaking of her time on the show, she gushed: “I love AJ [Ododu] and Will [Best], they’re amazing presenters. It’s really great to have this show back. I think it’s been done really well.
“The last time I did it, I did it with Tiffany iconic Pollard, and she was just iconic. I was meeting someone that I watched as a teenager on Big Brother; she’s an icon in the queer community. She was really sweet to me, she was so kind. The energy backstage is bonkers and amazing, especially when you’re there on eviction night.” But could Harriet find herself swapping the studio for the house? “Who knows, you never know,” she said, adding that if she were asked, she would “have to think about it.”
The broadcaster has continually used her platform to wave the flag for the LGBTQ+ community. “I think I would have come out a lot earlier, it wasn’t like I was hiding it, there wasn’t really representation when I came out in the media at time of queer people,” she said. She added: “Like there is now, it looks so vastly different, now, you’ve got Doechii, Reneé Rapp, Cara Delevingne, Chappell Roan – we just didn’t have it back then.
“It was much more difficult to be out and proud in the media. As we’ve seen from lots of people in my job who came out 20 or 30 years ago, it didn’t work out for them, which is so insanely sad for me. It’s about normalising representation so that people see me and they feel normal because I just want to feel normal, and I wanted other people to see me as normal, I wanted at the time when I came out to feel normal, which I didn’t. If I can help a young person feel normal and feel ok about themselves, that would be fantastic for me.”
While she often goes viral for her Say It Or Shot It clips on Kiss, with huge stars, Harriet admits that it’s far from relaxing. Her most memorable moment, though, has to be her friend JADE [Thirlwall], taking part and pranking her boyfriend, Rizzle Kicks star Jordan Stephens.
“I made her call her boyfriend and sing to him, and I think it was one of the funniest things that’s ever happened,” she said through laughter. Jordan took it in his stride and joined in with Jade, singing down the phone throughout the clip. Harriet continued: “He knew that she must have been doing something silly, so he just joined in. And I think those are the moments that really stand out, is that people are just really, in this day and age, desperate to have a bit of a laugh, and they wanna have fun, and they’re on a promo tour.”
One huge honour she had was having Stormzy on the programme. He’s known for being extremely private about his life, she explained: “It’s such an honour for me that someone will come and sit down with me and do that, it’s quite a nerve-wrecking thing to do.”
Harriet recently teamed up with Old Mout Cider for their Soho pop-up, The Kiwioke Bar, the first restaurant to accept only singing as currency. “I literally couldn’t have found a project to work on that was more me, like singing, eating and drinking gorgeous drinks is my three favourite things to do,” she laughed.
But her ultimate karaoke track is Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn, as she would sing sad songs, quite intensely, as it gets people going more than upbeat tracks. “Strawberry, because when it comes to cider, I like to go as fruity as possible, I am literally a fruity person,” she laughed. However, she’s also a huge fan of the non-alcoholic Berries cider. Soho, she says, is the perfect choice for the location, due to it being the “gay capital of the UK.” “It’s certainly the capital in London of the gays, it’s also just a fun, thriving place, where anyone of any sexuality, any gender identity can come and have a nice time,” she commented.
Harriet was drawn to the campaign because of the brand’s inclusivity and positivity. “It’s one of the most fun photoshoots I’ve ever done.” There’s no slowing down for Harriet, though, who hinted that she has a string of huge projects in the near future, and although she is unable to share details, she admits they are the “biggest” she has ever planned.
The Kiwioke Bar, presented by Old Mout Cider, will be open from 20th – 21st of August in Soho, London. To book tickets or enter the competition to win a table, visit: www.oldmoutcider.co.uk/kiwioke. UK residents aged 18+.
