Joss Stone says The Masked Singer reignited the ‘joy of play’ in her

Joss Stone says performing on The Masked Singer has reignited the “joy of play” in her.

The singer was crowned the winner of the competition in Saturday’s final after competing in disguise as Sausage.

Stone, 33, said she was “so lucky to get so far”.

“The joy of play was reignited not only in myself but in everyone on the set,” she said.

“Even through all of these heavy serious lockdown days, with the worry of things we cannot control looming over us, we proved that we can adjust to our new times and still laugh and play together and be productive.

“That is the stuff of life! We must never forget that.

“That is why we need to keep things like The Masked Singer and other expressions of art and music in its most carefree form alive.”

Stone said it was “hard” to keep her appearance on the programme a secret.

“People around me were constantly trying to guess what I was doing in these weeks,” she said.

“Some people even got mad because I wouldn’t tell them.

“It’s really been quite funny how crazy people get when you keep secrets from them.”

She said it can easy to “get caught up in the deepness” of singing, adding: “It doesn’t have to always be so serious and heavy.

“Life doesn’t have to be like that if you don’t want it to be.

“It made me laugh every day and it made everyone I walked past laugh.

“What a brilliant way to live life. I wish I never took it off really.”

Stone saw off competition from singers Ne-Yo and Aston Merrygold in the final of the ITV competition.