Gabrielle reveals she almost QUIT The Masked Singer on her FIRST DAY after issues with her costume

She was the latest star to be unveiled on The Masked Singer UK, after successfully getting to the semi-finals.

But Gabrielle admitted that her appearance on the ITV show almost didn’t happen after she threatened to quit on her very first day.

The singer, 52, told how her first day in which she tried on her Harlequin costume was ‘probably the most emotional day of my life’, adding that producers were forced to ‘talk her down from a ledge’.

Speaking to The Sun about her appearance on the singing show, Gabrielle explained: ‘That first day was probably the most emotional day of my life, because I threatened to quit.

‘I was screaming, “Oh my god I don’t want to do this. It’s too heavy and I feel hot”. You know, “Call the lawyers!” and everything’.

The Dreams hitmaker added that she felt as though she was ‘menopausal’ and producers had to convince her to take part in the show.   

Despite her worried, Gabrielle went on to say that doing the show was one of the ‘best things’ she’s ever done and despite her problems with the costume, she ‘felt like a million dollars’.

Gabrielle, whose real name is Louise Gabrielle Bobb has had a hugely successful career in the music industry, and she has released six albums since she made her debut in 1993. 

During her time on the show, fans heard Gabrielle belt out tracks including  Everything I Wanted, Sweet But Psycho and Fast Car among others, wowing the audience and celebrity panel week after week. 

However, ahead of her appearance, Gabrielle doubted her own vocal abilities and feared that she wouldn’t be able to compete in a competition as it was out of her ‘comfort zone’.

She told how she was ‘initially scared’ to take part as it wasn’t ‘one of my shows’ where she felt her most comfortable, adding that she didn’t ‘do things like that’.   

She said: ‘When I’m appearing at my own shows, it’s because people are coming to see me, they know what they’re getting. And all of a sudden, it’s like a singing thing — it’s like, “What, it’s a competition? I can’t be entering singing competitions!”.’ 

On Saturday Gabrielle was unveiled as Harlequin after all the judges bar Davina McCall named her as their guess, while Sue Perkins was unmasked as Dragon after successfully hoodwinking all of them into thinking she was someone else. 

Davina had guessed Harlequin was Emelie Sande, while Mo Gilligan, Matt Lucas, Rita Ora and Jonathan Ross all figured out Gabrielle’s identity. 

After being revealed at the end of the show, Gabrielle said: ‘I’m a very nervous performer and I thought by doing this maybe I can go out of my comfort zone, and it was a great experience.’

She admitted that she originally tried to hide her distinctive singing voice from the judges, but after a few weeks ‘forgot about it’ and sang as she normally would.

Sharing her surprise at getting so far, she said: ‘Thank you, the fact I got here, and with the great singers we have in the competition, I’m surprised I came so far so thank you.’ 

After the show, Gabrielle said: ‘It was an opportunity to do something I never thought I would, I say no thank you to a lot of TV shows that just aren’t me but this was about singing and me pushing myself. 

‘This last year has been so crazy so why not make it even more crazy by singing night after night dressed as a Harlequin.’ 

Of what it’s like behind-the-scenes on the show, she went on: ‘The secrecy was crazy, I couldn’t have imagined quite how intense it would be. 

‘I had to arrive to the studio in a balaclava, a hoodie that says ‘don’t speak to me’, visor and gloves – you can’t have any skin on show at all. 

‘You aren’t allowed to talk to 99 per cent of the people that work on the show and rely on giving a thumbs up or shake of the head when asked questions. 

‘You have to stay in your dressing room, be escorted from A to B. It’s like a military operation, the secrecy is taken so seriously and on the first day was really overwhelming but you get used to it and it’s fun playing the game.’