Masked Singer viewers applaud Chris Kamara as he's unmasked as Ghost on new series of ITV1 show

The football pundit and presenter, who lives in Wakefield, was the first character to be unmasked on the new series of ITV1’s reality singing contest. Six masked celebrities – Knitting, Jellyfish, Otter, Ghost, Cat and Mouse, and Phoenix – featured in the new episode, but Kamara’s Ghost was the first to be unmasked.

It comes after Kamara, who recently spoke out about his difficulties with the speech disorder apraxia, was made an MBE for services to football, anti-racism and charity in the New Year’s Honours list. He said he kept his role in the show a secret to surprise his family, adding: “I can’t wait to see their reactions.

“My grandkids, we’ll sit around together and they’ll have no idea. They love this show. They just sing ‘take it off’ and grandad’s going to turn around.”

Viewers have applauded ‘Kammy’ for his appearance on the show in the face of his battle with speech disorder apraxia. The condition is a neurological disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in producing speech.

@DeanMcMackin tweeted: “What a man Chris Kamara is. Some bottle doing that after the year he has had.” While @BlazingOptimist said: “Chris Kamara is one of those rare celebs that seems like a genuinely lovely person irl".

@carlyblade said she was left in tears after his appearance on the show, while @maxbanner17 said: “I genuinely said Chris Kamara but didn't think he'd do this now due to his health issues - what a legend and fair play to him!”