The Masked Singer UK fans might be loving Rhino’s country swagger, but it turns out the character was originally supposed to be a different member of the animal kingdom.

In week two of the 2023 series on ITV, the horned creature was among the performers who made his debut in front of judges Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall, Rita Ora and Jonathan Ross, leaving jaws on the ground with his performance of Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars.

Rhino is set to make his highly-anticipated return tonight alongside Fawn, Jacket Potato, Pigeon and Rubbish, as fans continue to suspect that it may be Busted’s Charlie Simpson behind the mask.

While speaking to Metro.co.uk, costume designer Tim Simpson of Plunge Creations revealed that at the beginning, the character was initially conceived as a lion, but the idea didn’t pan out.

‘Rhino initially started as a lion. It was a sketch that we did for another season, and we parked because it wasn’t quite working,’ he recalled.

Then one day, one of the producers of The Masked Singer UK just suddenly thought up the idea of putting a rhino in a diamante-encrusted costume… and the rest, as they say, was history.

Can you imagine if it had been a lion underneath that teeny cowboy’s hat? (Picture: ITV)

Bruno Tonioli was unmasked as lion Pearly King on The Masked Dancer last year (Picture: ITV/Getty)

‘Dan, one of the producers said, “Why don’t we turn it into a rhino stone cowboy?”’ he recalled, prompting the team to set to work sourcing the fabrics that they needed to make this vision a reality.

‘The changes in colour, the changes in style, then the fabric we wanted we couldn’t get hold of, so we then moved to a different fabric… often the changes are to do with supplies and supply chains.’

Tim outlined how nowadays, with there being fewer high street haberdashers and fabric shops, it can be ‘harder’ to buy materials, as there’s less opportunity to ‘actually rummage through materials’.

‘You’re doing a lot of research online. It’s not quite so much fun and it’s slower because you don’t know what you’re gonna get. So you have to get samples to you,’ he explained.

Many viewers are convinced Charlie will be unveiled as Rhino (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

‘Then when they arrive, you go okay, that doesn’t work, then it’s a bit of a redraw, then it has to get checked off by everybody, because we want to get a nice spread of colours and textures and things in the whole ensemble.

‘We’ll sometimes go back to the drawing board and go okay, we’ve got something blue in the mix. Let’s see if we can turn this red thing into a purple thing.’

In the end, Rhino’s design proved a triumph, while Pearly King – an ornate-looking lion character – ended up being included in the line-up for The Masked Dancer UK 2022, with former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli behind the mask.

Some viewers thought that perhaps Rhino’s clue package could indicate a connection to the quartet Blue, considering there was a sign that read ‘Welcome to Cobalt’, with cobalt being a shade of the primary colour.

There were also three arrows in the background – with beloved boyband Busted being a group of three, strengthening the argument that it’s Year 3000 singer Charlie behind the mask.

The Masked Singer UK returns tonight at 7pm on ITV and ITVX.

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Fans are convinced Busted’s Charlie Simpson is behind the mask.