Former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton Wins 'The Masked Singer'

Melody Thornton has won The Masked Singer. The former Pussycat Dolls member was the final singer to have their identity discovered, being revealed as the singer beneath the Mirrorball mask, beating fellow finalists Sheldon Riley (Snapdragon) and Hugh Sheridan (Rooster) in the final of the popular Channel 10 singing series last night.  

Thornton's final performance as Mirrorball, a rendition of Last Dance by Donna Summer initially left the judges none-the-wiser as to her identity, with Mel B incorrectly guessing that Mirrorball was Samantha Jade, Chrissie Swan believing it was Nicole Richie and Abbie Chatfield believing it was Hilary Duff beneath the mask. Dave Hughes then made his first correct guess of the entire season, correctly declaring Thornton as the star behind Mirrorball. 

Thornton spoke after being announced as the winner, sharing that she had enjoyed bringing the character of 'mirrorball' to life.

“I’m so happy!” she said after being revealed. “I kept saying, ‘You know, if you don’t get it, it’s fine. You worked hard and it was great. It was just so nice to have lovely comments, and encouragement as well, to bring this character to life. This really helped my relationship with myself. It brought me closer to myself. [Ultimately], you sing because you want other people to be inspired to sing.”

The reveal itself has been the subject of much controversy, with a large volume of people taking to social media to voice their disbelief that comedian Dave Hughes was the man to successfully identify the singer. Twitter was abuzz with Tweets calling the finish "b.s".  

"Dave Hughes knows who Melanie Thornton is but the average Aussie doesn't?'" offered one user, "'Hughesy guessing the correct winner… I call super BS" offered another, while one pretty much summed up them all with the hot take of the night, 'Look, she seems nice, and she can f***ing sing the house down. I only wish I knew who the f*** she was".

Look, she seems nice, and she can fucking sing the house down. I only wish I knew who the fuck she was. #MaskedSingerAU

— NewsCorp Rims Fascists (@TheGrimRecapper) August 28, 2022

Runners-up Sheldon Riley and Hugh Sheridan both shared their thoughts on their Masked Singer journeys.

Riley, a veteran of TV talent contests having represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest and been a contestant on The X Factor, The Voice (twice) and America's Got Talent stated "It’s been a really long road for me. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s as a kid, so people always worried about me… It wasn’t until this show that I realised that I need to be so proud of my talent, and really show people that I don’t need a mask to do what I do!"

Sheridan let slip that claustrophobia was an issue at first, with the actor best known best known as Ben in Packed To The Rafter's admitting it presented a big hurdle to embracing the Rooster character.  "When I first came out in this costume, I was having panic attacks, I didn't know how claustrophobic I actually am. I didn't think I was going to last a week, and then I crossed a line with the Rooster and I just said, "Take me".