The Masked Singer descended into chaos on Saturday night as singer Macy Gray furiously stormed off the stage after being the third person to be voted off the show.

And it wasn’t the first time the American soul singer caused a commotion on The Masked Singer, as back in 2021 Macy refused to leave the Australian version of the show after being voted off.

One of the show’s judges, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes, said Macy, 57, who was unmasked as Atlantis, ‘refused to leave’ despite being told it was time to take off her mask and say goodbye.

‘Macy Gray had such passion for The Masked Singer that when she was told that she had to leave the show, which you saw last night, she refused to leave the show,’ the comedian said on 2Day FM’s Morning Crew.

‘She said, “No, I’m continuing in the show,” and there had to be a discussion which went for quite a while as to, “No, you have to leave.” She said, “No, I’m not leaving.”

‘The thing is, we can’t do the end of the show unless the head comes off.’

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The Masked Singer descended into chaos on Saturday night as singer Macy Gray furiously stormed off the stage after being the third person to be voted off the show

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It wasn’t the first time the American soul singer caused a commotion on The Masked Singer, as back in 2021 Macy refused to leave the Australian version of the show after being voted off

Co-host Ed Kavalee then said: ‘So, she still had the head on, and they’re saying, “Hey, Macy-slash-Atlantis, we need you to take the head off so you can go.”

‘[And] she’s responding, “No I’m keeping the head on”?’

Fellow anchor Erin Molan then speculated that Macy wanted to stay on the show longer to secure a bigger payday.

‘I don’t know the contractual situation…’ Hughesy responded, adding that Macy took a lot of convincing before she agreed to take her mask off and leave.

It comes after the Masked Singer crew reportedly ‘took ages to persuade Macy Gray to go back on stage’ – after the star was the third person to be voted off the UK version of the show on Saturday.

The hit ITV show descended into chaos on Friday’s instalment after the American soul singer lost out to Bear in the sing-off after the judges opted to save the latter.

And the I Try hitmaker clearly didn’t take the news well as she strutted off the stage, leaving host Joel Dommett and judges Davina McCall Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross and Maya Jama open-mouthed in shock.

While to viewers it may have seemed like Macy returned to the stage moments after storming off, it’s said that it actually took producers nearly an hour to coax her back out – with the scenes being cut from the show.

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One of the show’s judges, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes, said Macy, 57, who was unmasked as Atlantis, ‘refused to leave’ despite being told it was time to take off her mask and say goodbye

The show stars, who included guest judge Suranne Jones, tried to keep things cheerful as they congratulated Bear, Macy soon made her way back to the stage.

Now reports emerged that the ‘totally wild’ scenario has ‘never happened on The Masked Singer’ before.

A source told The Sun the crew was left ‘frozen in shock’ and as soon as Macy reached backstage, they tried to talk her down.

‘Macy was almost shellshocked to start with and was basically gutted to be out so early because she really enjoyed being on the American version – when obviously she did brilliantly – so was totally blindsided.

‘It took everyone backstage ages to talk her round and poor Joel was on stage essentially doing a stand-up routine to try and keep things under control.

‘Eventually they managed to persuade Macy to go back on stage and be properly unmasked and sing for the last time,’ the telly source finished.

The insider added that the show is a ‘bit of fun’ and the vote was ‘no indication of her talent’, however ‘no one could believe’ that the superstar had ‘lost it’ in that way.

MailOnline have contacted ITV for comment.

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The Masked Singer’s crew reportedly ‘took ages to persuade Macy to go back on stage’ – after the star was being the third person to be voted off the show

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The I Try hitmaker clearly didn’t take the news well as she strutted off the stage, leaving host Joel Dommett and judges Davina McCall Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross and Maya Jama [pictured] open-mouthed in shock

Once she removed her mask, Macy had a face like thunder and couldn’t hide her anger during the interview, replying to Joel’s questions with blunt, one-worded answers.

Watching the dramatic moment, viewers took to X in their droves to comment and they were all saying the same thing – how ‘awkward’ the whole thing was.

Macy’s onscreen meltdown comes as it’s reported that she was left ‘totally blindsided’ by the result, after she previously reached the final of the US version in 2023.

Macy competed against Pufferfish, Bear, Wolf and Bush during the latest episode of the show.

Prue Leith was the first person voted off the show after being revealed as Pegasus, while Kate Garraway was the second to be out after being unmasked as Spag Bol.

Prue Leith was the first person voted off the show after being revealed as Pegasus, while Kate Garraway was the second to be out after being unmasked as Spag Bol.

It comes after host Joel, 39, revealed the return of the Masked Singer ‘has got weirder’ as he said new show judge Maya Jama, 30, ‘lives a really ridiculous life’.

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The show stars, who included guest judge Suranne Jones, tried to keep things cheerful as they congratulated Bear, Macy soon made her way back to the stage

Speaking to Principle Magazine, Joel said: ‘It’s getting weirder. I think it’s getting odder and odder.

‘And if you thought it was weird before, it’s getting even more strange. And also we’re getting more confident as a production.

‘We’re putting in more twists and turns and interesting elements to it that you wouldn’t necessarily expect with the format.

‘It’s just fun and we’re really enjoying it, but production certainly is letting me do pretty much whatever I want.’