Abbie Chatfield Masked Singer Friendship Mel B Spice Girls Dave Hughes Chrissie Swan

Abbie Chatfield Spills The Tea On Friendship With Mel B And Her ‘Masked Singer’ Crush

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As we take a short break from the romance drama and fighting brought to you by Australian reality TV, the always wholesome The Masked Singer is back and this time with a whole new panel of judges, including Aussie reality superstar Abbie Chatfield.

And for those who need a little quick reminder on who Abbie is: she is a former contestant of The Bachelor who went on to build a successful career in radio, podcasting and presenting, even winning I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here in 2021. Most recently, she’s picked up the gig as a panellist for The Masked Singer, alongside Big Brother royalty and radio queen Chrissie Swan, Scary Spice Mel B, and Masked Singer OGs Dave Hughes and host Osher Günsberg.

Filming is already underway and we’ve seen an adorable friendship unfold online and IRL between the two pop culture icons — Abbie and Mel B — with the pair posting adorable selfies and having cute piggyback rides at the Logies. Tbh this is the power couple I didn’t know we needed.

 

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We recently spoke with Abbie about this blossoming friendship with the Spice Girl, and about this season of The Masked Singer. Abbie also got extremely candid about starting ADHD medicine during the filming of the show and how ADHD has helped her when judging.

So get your cup ready, cause Abbie Chatfield has spilled all the tea on Mel B, secret crushes, and The Masked Singer:

Can you tell us how you managed to nab The Masked Singer gig and your experience being apart of the panel? 

“I just got a call offering for me to do it, so I said yes. It was so amazing to be a part of that panel. Obviously, working with Mel B was great but it was also just incredible to be with professionals including Hughesy, Chrissie, and Osher. It was honestly a very intense but fun three weeks.” 

Did you have a crush on any of the masks? 

“It was on naughty little Tiger because Tiger was so fun. I adored Tiger and Tiger had a great voice so [like] all of the performers, it was hard to decide a favourite because all of them were so great.”

So Punkee did a cheeky little excursion and we attended one of the recordings of the show and we saw you and Mel B were super close. What’s Mel B like and are you guys besties now?

“She is fantastic, she is the most radiant person and so much fun and so down to earth. I remember when I cried at a reveal, I looked at Mel, and Hughesy made a joke saying, ‘You’re crying, but you’ve got a Spice Girl next to you the whole time’, and I was like, ‘Oh Mel, I forget you’re a Spice Girl.’

“She’s just so great, but you just forget, you know she’s so Northern, she’s so English, you just love her, and my mum called her the most huggable person in the world — she adores Mel.” 

Why do you think you and Mel B get along so well?

“Mel speaks openly about her ADHD diagnosis, and I’ve just started on ADHD medication while we were filming. I think we had a little fun together and got along really well personality-wise, but she also really helped me with that first ADHD diagnosis and things like that.

“I think that she’s a great person — everyone that meets Mel sees how fabulous she is.” 

Being diagnosed with ADHD and beginning your medication while filming, did this pose as a challenge for you as a judge? 

“I feel like with ADHD, when you’re actually interested in something, you can hyper-focus on it. So, I think I was hyper-focusing because it’s kinda like a kid’s show: it’s made for very active brains. It has bright colours, there are songs, there’s Osher there. I’ve got people next to me talking in my ear, so I think that it maybe helped me on the show.

“To be honest, I could focus on everything at once. I find that the more that is going on, the more I can focus on. When it’s something dull, I just can’t pay attention.” 

There’s a lot of researching, clues, and detective work involved. Can you tell us about how you deciphered the clues or the process you used to uncover the celebs on The Masked Singer? 

“I was really struggling at first, truth be told, I watched the show but I usually give up after episode one or two, because I usually think ‘I’m not gonna get it so who cares.’

“Chrissie has all these strategies, Mel knows everyone in the business, she’s obviously been doing it [judging various talent shows] for four years. I just went with the clues first, but I kinda just scrapped that and thought I’m gonna go with voice first and try and figure that out — so, that works for the better.” 

There’s a wide range of masks this year that have unique voices, who has been your favourite? 

“I adore Blowfly. I think that Blowfly has an amazing voice, it’s a really funny costume, obviously, and they just work so well. They’re a great performer, and all the songs they do are different, but the Blowfly essence is still there, you know what I mean?

“I actually asked Blowfly to do a ‘Like a Version’. I want to start a petition for Blowfly to do it.” 

And were you shocked when they revealed who they were? 

“I wasn’t shocked, I think I figured it out, but we’ll see.” 

I swear some of the clues are just completely confusing.

“Yeah, actually, it makes no sense, and then you find things out about celebrities that you never would’ve wanted to know. I mean, I know people’s nieces and nephews’ names and their birthday, like their first job was like Macca’s or whatever. So you really have to dig deep to make those clues match up.” 

Other than a completely new panel of judges, what do you think makes this season stand out from other seasons? 

“I think the quality of the contestants, I mean every mask that came off, I knew who they were immediately, and I knew that usually, it’s like ‘hahaha, I have no idea who these people are,’ but genuinely, I knew all of them straight away. And look, I definitely did cry at one of the reveals, so there are some huge names in there.” 

Now here is the real question, f*ck, marry or kill: Hughesy, Mel B, Chrissie? 

“I think I would love to marry Chrissie Swan: she is a divine creature. I don’t want to kill anyone. Omg, this is awful, I think I would f*ck Mel B, but I don’t think I would kill Hughesy. Maybe I could say I would block Hughesy. I love Hughesy, I just think it’s a bit weird to say that I’d f*ck or marry someone who’s been married for 20 years, you know? And he’s like my father.” 

A lot of celebs are joining The Challenge, is that something you will be doing? 

“No. I don’t see myself doing any more contestant shows. It’s far too stressful, and I admire them all for going on it.” 

What is something you hope viewers take away from the show?

“I just hope they have fun, it’s a really great show. This season is just, I think because the panel changes — cause the last panel were fabulous — it’s a different vibe, it’s a whole new era.”

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The Masked Singer starts this Sunday August 7 at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.