THE Masked Singer viewers are adamant cuddly character Bear is a huge Hollywood star.
The brown fluffy animal, decked out in red regal attire, arrived on the ITV stage on Saturday.
They kicked off the new The Masked Singer series alongside Bush, Toad In The Hole, Pegasus, Pufferfish, and Wolf.
Bear has made references to performing in the West End as a “cub” before they took to the stage to sing his version of Oliver! song You’ve Got to Pick A Pocket Or Two.
Prior to the tune, Bear said: ”The stage is set, the audience awaits, and I am hungry for the competition.”
During the show, the friendly character also revealed a riddle which told: “I’m walking the stage and displaying my toil, but I’m also at home amongst flowers and soil.”
Now ITV viewers reckon the man behind the mask is A Very Royal Scandal actor Michael Sheen, 55.
Savvy fans put two and two together after linking the Welshman’s vocal talents with his recent carpool karaoke stint on The Late Late Show.
One took to X to claim: “Bear is…Michael Sheen??”
A second put: “Why does Bear sound like Michael Sheen??” as a third wrote: “I think Bear is Michael Sheen.”
Others on Reddit were quick to share their opinion, particularly after they shared clues including several globes and a ‘break a leg’ sign.
One referred to the acting quip and insisted: “It’s Michael Sheen. Trained with RADA. Acted in The Globe, done loads of Shakespeare both shows, audiobooks etc.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Masked Singer fans convinced Wolf is legendary Scottish pop star after cryptic clue ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366728681112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]“Dated Kate Beckinsale who’s dad was in Porridge and is blonde like Goldilocks. Did car pool karaoke and sang West End girls with Rhys what’s his name. (Best episode of car pool karaoke ever)
“Also was part of Welsh youth theatre and turned down youth contract with arsenal. Had portrait painted by someone with coffee and he signed and actioned it for charity. Won celebrity bake off for Comic Relief.”
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D102011%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]Another mused: “I think he’s hiding his voice but almost certain it’s him.”
A third put: “I was leaning towards Michael Sheen too, it’s the same voice he does when he does the jokey Welsh singing thing on Staged.
[boxout headline=”Who won The Masked Singer 2025?” featured-image=”32646117″ intro=”Much to the delight of telly fans, The Masked Singer came back in 2025.”]Twelve celebrities were hidden behind intricate costumes, with their identities concealed.
Pufferfish – This year’s winner had flawless vocals throughout the competition. West End powerhouse Samantha Barks told the audience she’d loved every second of the series.
Dressed Crab – Former American football player turned jazz singer Gregory Porter was the man behind the crustacean. He duetted with Keala Settle, who previously competed as Air Fryer, in the final.
Wolf – Wet Wet Wet heartthrob Marti Pellow was unmasked as the rugged character. McFly’s Danny Jones, who won last year’s show as Piranha, was on the panel in the final and paid his respects to the Scottish crooner.
Bush – she didn’t fool viewers and the judges were so close, but Bush was in fact EastEnders legend Natalie Cassidy. Davina McCall came closest, guessing Morgana Robinson, who does a mean impression of the Sonia actress
Bear – another success for new judge Maya Jama as she guessed correctly that the singing Bear was none other than singer, songwriter Example – real name Elliot Gleave.
Snail – this singer certainly fooled the judges as the mask was lifted to reveal Andrea Corr. Jonathan Ross admitted to being a huge fan of The Corrs.
Kingfisher – everyone was convinced this was Harry Hill, but the mask was lifted to reveal artist Sir Grayson Perry, who is known for his alter-ego Claire.
Teeth – this character baffled judges and viewers with their changing voice. They were finally unmasked as former Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc. None of the panel managed to guess it was her.
Tattoo – despite Davina McCall saying “you sound the same” after this character was unmasked, none of the judges guessed it was 80s singer Carol Decker, whose hit China In Your Hand was a No1 hit for five weeks.
Toad In The Hole – a massive diva strop saw the character storm off the stage after the judges voted them off. They later returned to be unmasked as singer Macy Gray.
Pegasus – the mythical horse was revealed to be Prue Leith, with judge Jonathan Ross correctly guessing her identity.
Spag Bol – this character was first to be unmasked and was none other than Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway.
Plus there was one extra unmasking this season, with Giant Joel – a caricature of host Joel Dommett – unveiled as double-double Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah.
“Minute I heard him that’s what I thought.”
Other clues have included a horseshoe and a coffee cup.
So far this season, Davina McCall has guessed that the star hiding behind the Bear costume is fellow actor Patrick Stewart.
Elsewhere on the panel, new judge Maya Jama plumped for Gordon Ramsay, Jonathan said Christopher Biggins, and Mo Gilligan guessed fellow comedian Tom Davis.
