Denise Van Outen even had to keep her record deal a secret from her family in case they linked it to ‘The Masked Singer’.
The 45-year-old actress was unmasked as Fox on the ITV singing competition last weekend and later revealed she hadn’t told her family about the programme, and she landed a record deal off the back of the series, but had to keep "sneaking off" for recording sessions without telling her partner Eddie Boxshall.
She said: "It’s been great for me because I was approached by a music producer, so I’m currently recording an album, and I’ve never done one before.
"It’s been an amazing experience being in the studio.
"Again, I had to keep this completely quiet from Eddie and my family when I was sneaking off to go and record.
"Because I thought, ‘If they know I’m recording an album, they might think I’m on the show.’ "
Denise – who has nine-year-old daughter Betsy – believes she was the first contestant to accept an offer to take part in the UK version of the show, because she knew all about the programme from watching it in Australia when she was filming ‘Neighbours’.
Speaking on ‘Good Morning Britain’, she added: "I watched the show last year when I was in Australia filming ‘Neighbours’, so I watched the Australian version and I knew how it gripped the nation.
"So I thought, ‘If it comes to the UK I would love to do it,’ and then I got the call.
"I think I was probably the first person to say ‘yes’ to it, because I knew."
Earlier this week, Denise revealed she had two record deal offers on the table.
She said: "I’ve been very lucky – and this is way I really genuinely loved being part of the show.
"Obviously the rumours had started that it was me, and I got approached by a producer to start recording some songs… I was going off to the studio and making records.
"We’ve got two offers on the table so we’ll sit down and work out which to go with. I’ve got music being made which is great!"
Denise Van Outen kept record deal secret from family
