The Masked Singer’s Gregory Porter reveals biggest struggle while wearing 14kg costume

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Gregory Porter has spoken about one of the hardest aspects of wearing the Dressed Crab costume on The Masked Singer UK.

The show’s costume designer Tim Simpson revealed to Metro that it was the heaviest garment at 14kg, even admitting that he’s amazed that stars don’t collapse on stage. For reference, 14kg is the equivalent of a medium-sized dog, several gallons of milk, or two hefty bowling balls.

However, for Gregory, 53, it was another issue entirely that caused him the most grief while participating in the ITV show.

What he found particularly hard about his choice of character was having claws instead of hands. Gregory is accustomed to using the body part to further animate himself during performances but that privilege was taken away.

‘That was difficult for me because I like to have a connection with my audience. I like to express myself with my hands,’ he explained on This Morning.

‘I can’t tell you how difficult it is. If you’ve ever seen me perform live I have to have my hands which is why I always sing with a mic stand.’

Gregory Porter as the Dressed Crab on The Masked Singer. His mask has been lifted and he is smiling.
Gregory struggled to not use his hands on the show (Picture: ITV)
Bear, Dressed Crab and Bush on The Masked Singer UK
We can’t imagine how hard it must be to sing in one of these weighty costumes (Picture: ITV)

Despite the obstacle, Gregory was one of the standout performers since the beginning, previously astounding the audience with renditions of Lean On Me, Let’s Groove and Are You Gonna Go My Way. He finished as runner-up just behind Pufferfish, who turned out to be West End superstar Samantha Barks.

Tim, who’s the creative director of Plunge Creations, spoke in further detail about the crustacean’s costume, which boasts ornate red ruffles from top to bottom in a flamenco dress style.

‘I would say Dressed Crab is the heaviest. It’s got a huge crinoline, which essentially comes up to your chest, which is a fairly excessive height for a crinoline frame to come up to,’ he shared.

From Bandicoot TV The Masked Singer SR6 Ep1 :on ITV1 and ITVX Pictured: Dressed Crab This photograph is (C) Bandicoot TV and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms For further information please contact: michael.taiwo1@itv.com
Dressed Crab certainly knows how to make a lasting impression on the show (Picture: ITV/Kieron McCarron)
Comment nowWhat’s your favourite costume from the 2025 series of The Masked Singer UK?Comment Now

‘It’s a big hoop frame, and then there’s lots and lots and lots of fabric in it. So yeah, I think Crab needs quite a bit of strength from the performer.

‘Even just the pincers with their movement, that’s a big, heavy thing to have on the end of your arm.’

Having not known which celebrity was hidden in Dressed Crab’s costume when it was being made, Tim added that whoever was under the mask was ‘giving it a lot of energy to both perform in it, sing in it and not collapse on stage’.

‘None of them collapse on stage, I’m always amazed,’ he said.

The Masked Singer: SR4 on ITV1 and ITVX Pictured: Knitting. This image and the information contained herein is strictly embargoed until 21.00 Sunday 18th December 2022 From Bandicoot TV This photograph is (C) ITV Plc/Bandicoot TV and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms For further information please contact: james.hilder@itv.com
Knitting was one of the heaviest characters ever on The Masked Singer UK (Picture: ITV)
This image and the information contained herein is strictly embargoed until 00.01 Saturday 4th December 2021 From Bandicoot TV The Masked Singer: SR3 on ITV and ITV Hub Pictured: Robobunny. This photograph is (C) ITV/Bandicoot TV and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms For further information please contact: james.hilder@itv.com / 0207 157 3052
Robobunny also proved a difficult costume to wear (Picture: ITV/Vincent Dolman)

‘We still haven’t had a point where somebody’s actually turned around and gone, “I’m going to drop,” because they’re hot and they’re restrictive and they’re weird and they’re claustrophobic and yet, the performers just soldier on.’

In 2023, Tim revealed to Metro that Knitting – who turned out to be Steps singer Claire Richards – boasted the heaviest costume of the year.

‘It’s probably bordering on about 20 kilos. It’s a heavy thing. I think Knitting was the heaviest,’ the costume designer said at the time.

On top of the weight, Tim revealed that just under 350 metres of wool was used to create Knitting.

In the previous series, the heavy Robobunny was ‘quite a formidable thing for the performer to wear’, aka Westlife’s Mark Feehily.

‘They’re not only dealing with a really big costume, where they can only see out past a bunny rabbit’s ears, they’re also trying to make sure that bunny rabbit comes alive and sings,’ Tim said, after explaining the puppet mechanism of the rabbit’s mouth moving during performances.

‘So I think Robobunny has the toughest call in the costumes overall. And they’re just absolutely rocking it.’

The Masked Singer UK is available to watch on ITVX.

A previous version of this article was published on February 8

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