Julia Sawalha has spoken out over her fears at The Masked Singer UK fans claiming Saturday’s show was fixed after she was unveiled as Bubble Tea while Jennifer Saunders was on the panel.
Actress Julia, 55, played Saffron ‘Saffy’ Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous from 1992 to 2012, with the sitcom being created by Jennifer, 65, who played her mother Edina ‘Eddie’ Monsoon.
After going up against Owl, Bubble Tea was chosen to be unmasked and, after revealing her identity, Julia shouted: ‘Mummy!’ at a shocked-looking Jennifer, with Jennifer shouting: ‘Darling, what are you doing here?!’
The moment left guest panellist Jennifer – who was standing in for Rita Ora – stunned as she had no idea Julia was behind the mask.
But Julia was concerned viewers of the show would believe there was more to the situation and that her unmasking had been engineered by producers just because Jennifer was on the panel that week.
Julia Sawalha has spoken out over her fears at The Masked Singer UK fans claiming Saturday’s show was fixed after she was unveiled as Bubble Tea while Jennifer Saunders was on the panel (Julia pictured on show on Saturday)
Actress Julia, 55, played Saffron ‘Saffy’ Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous from 1992 to 2012, with the sitcom being created by Jennifer, 65, who played her mother Edina ‘Eddie’ Monsoon (Jennifer pictured on The Masked Singer UK on Saturday)
Julia told the Mirror: ‘I said, “She’s going to know my walk, know how I sound”.’
‘I was saying to her afterwards, “People will think it’s fixed”.’
But Julia said Jennifer insisted: ‘Not when they see my face. I had absolutely no idea!’
Scree star Julia said knowing Jennifer was on the panel made her performance feel special.
She said: ‘It’s weird how the stars align. I could just about make her out. I thought, “There’s someone I know.” It’s lovely.
‘She didn’t know, but I knew, it didn’t intimidate me at all. Completely the opposite.’
After she was unmasked on Saturday, Julia told host Joel Dommett of her time on the show: ‘I’ve loved it. My friend earlier this year said, “You don’t sing enough Julia”.
‘And then this came up and I thought, “I really need to do something I’m absolutely terrified of”.’
After going up against Owl, Bubble Tea (pictured) was chosen to be unmasked on Saturday evening
Bubble Tea was chosen to be unmasked and, after revealing her identity, Julia shouted: ‘Mummy!’ at a shocked-looking Jenifer. Jennifer shouted: ‘Darling, what are you doing here?!’
Julia (left) and Jennifer (right) both starred in Absolutely Fabulous with their characters being mother and daughter (pictured in series four in 2001)
Asked how it was to see her ‘mother’ again, she added: ‘Just beautiful… really special.’
However, the moment did in fact some viewers of the show suspicious, with many taking to social media to insist the result had been fixed.
One person wrote on Twitter: ‘What a fix! Bubble Tea/Julia Sawalha had to be unmasked because of the AbFab connection with Jennifer Saunders. Makes for a better reveal!’
While someone else posted: ‘Clearly another fixed result so bubble tea was revealed when Jennifer Saunders was on.’
‘That seems like such a fix. Producers getting Jennifer Saunders on and then saying they have to vote out Julia Sawalha. Not one to do this but I’m definitely calling it,’ shared someone else.
Another show fan asked: ‘So I guess this is why Bubble Tea was unmasked cause Jennifer Saunders was on the panel?’
While someone else remarked: ‘That was such a fix so they could unmask Julia in front of Jennifer cause owl was deffo worse than her!’
Someone else posted: ‘Bubble tea was the perfect person to be unmasked tonight considering the guest judge!’
‘#MaskedSingerUK even having watched the reveal I still can’t believe who Bubble Tea is!!!’, wrote another audience member at home.
And someone else commented: ‘Genius to have #BubbleTea unmasked this week!’
This week, the show was kickstarted by Piranha, who sang Treasure by Bruno Mars.
They were followed by Eiffel Tower, who performed Angels by Robbie Williams, and panellist Davina McCall guessed they could be Sex And The City’s Sarah Jessica Parker, while Jonathan Ross said it could be Alison Moyet.
Many viewers took to social media to insist the result had been fixed as Jennifer was temporarily on the show as a panellist while stepping in for regular Rita Ora
Owl sang Don’t Stop Movin’ by S Club 7 and Mo Gilligan thought that she could be Waterloo Road star Kym Marsh, while Saunders guessed former footballer Alex Scott.
Air Fryer sang The Final Countdown by Europe and Ross said it could be Australian actor Russell Crowe.
Following the sing-off, the panellists decided to save Owl – meaning Bubble Tea was unmasked.
The Masked Singer UK airs on Saturdays at 7pm on ITV1, ITVX & STV.
