The Masked Singer winner Nicola Roberts says her ex-bandmates guessed she was in the Queen Bee costume.

Roberts, 34, had to lie to former Girls Aloud stars Cheryl and Kimberley Walsh when they suspected she was involved in the ITV talent show.

She told The Sun: “As soon as the Masked Singer advert was released, Cheryl texted me saying, ‘That’s you on the Masked Singer’.

“I responded, ‘No it’s not. I haven’t even seen the advert’. Luckily she bought it.

“But then, when the first episode came on, both she and Kimberley called me and said, ‘I don’t know how you think you can lie to us, we know it’s you’, but I kept denying it.

“Of course, they were the only ones who could recognise my voice, as we were in each other’s pockets for so long.”

Roberts beat comedian Jason Manford and opera star Katherine Jenkins in the final of the hit show.