Martin and Shirlie Kemp have disclosed how they kept their major The Masked Singer secret from their two adult children.
The married couple recently exposed their genuine identities as Cat and Mouse on the renowned ITV singing competition where contestants hide their true identities under costumes until the audience votes them out.
Both rose to prominence as vocalists in the 1980s – Martin with Spandau Ballet, Shirlie with Wham! and Pepsi & Shirlie – and married in 1988 before giving birth to Harley Moon, 33, and Roman, 29.
On Saturday, the duo’s stint on the show ended with a shocking reveal in which they raised the heavy costume heads and flashed knowing grins at the spectators and judges.
Despite calling it “the best surprise ever,” not a single panellist correctly identified the faces behind the masks.
The devious pair claimed on Loose Women that they worked hard to maintain the secret from everyone they knew, including their two children.
Martin attributed their ability to keep their latest venture under wraps to the fact that Roman and Harley Moon reside away from home.
He said: ‘My boy and my girl, they don’t live with us anymore, they’ve got their own homes so it was our secret.
‘We were just going out to work every day and they didn’t know about it but it was all to do with like “how good would it be if we could keep it a secret and have that moment we saw”’.
Wife Shirlie then chimed in with: ‘That’s the point of the show.’
She then admitted she was a great secret keeper: ‘I’m a good little actress.’
When asked about Roman’s early concerns that his parents were participating in the tournament, the mother-of-two admitted her kid did speculate but added, ‘I was deep in denial.
‘I told him I didn’t really like the limelight and I wouldn’t do that type of thing so that’s why Roman was like “you’re lying saying you didn’t like the limelight”’.
After a film showing the broadcaster’s reaction to learning what his mother and father were up to went viral on social media, it drew a lot of attention for its dramatics.
In the footage, the breakfast radio DJ can be heard yelling, ‘I knew it,’ before repeatedly calling his mother a liar.
The Masked Singer continues at 7pm next Saturday on ITV1.