After weeks of serving up saucy performances, Jack Vidgen was unveiled as the Kebab on The Masked Singer Australia on Monday night.
WATCH: Jack Vidgen performs on The Masked Singer
The reveal came as a shock to most of the panellists, including Dannii Minogue, who has “been there from the beginning” – she was one of the original judges who ‘discovered’ Jack on Australia’s Got Talent in 2011.
“I was shocked to see that Dannii couldn’t recognise my voice at all,” Jack tells WHO after the big reveal.
“I go in to Kyle and Jackie O’s [radio show] all the time, so I wasn’t surprised that she picked it up, but Dannii – you’ve been here since day one! It was so funny.”
While Dannii – and Dave Hughes and Urzila Carlson – weren’t able to match the clues to Jack, many fans were already convinced.
“It was fun to finally be revealed last night,” Jack says. “I’m terrible at lying – it’s not fun. There were definitely friends and family who figured it out, they all know my voice so well… and I was just like ‘No it’s not me, I’d love to do the show though’ [laughs].”
Though he’s a seasoned reality TV contestant, the 24-year-old star admits he still found the Masked Singer experience to be unique and ‘freeing.’
“You can be whoever you want to be and you can sing however you want to sing and there’s a freedom in it, because people don’t know exactly who you are,” he tells us. “So, it’s a very freeing experience, bizarrely, even though you’re so claustrophobic in your costume.
Having won the hearts of Australia on AGT way back in 2011, Jack has dipped in and out of the spotlight in the years since. Taking time off after releasing two albums in his early teens, he returned to the stage on The Voice Australia in 2019 and Eurovision: Australia Decides in 2020.
“Singing is the only thing that brings me joy and happiness, and it’s been the only thing in my whole life that’s done that. I’ve needed these years out of the spotlight to grow up and be my own person and form my own views and beliefs,” he told WHO at the time.
Releasing a deeply personal song Goodbye in September, Jack is turning his attention from reality TV onto new music.
“I’ve done a couple shows and I think it’s time now to just release music and do what I do best. I was very fortunate with this show that I was able to sing again, which is obviously my first love,” Jack tells us now.
“There have been a lot of positive vibes right now with being unmasked and releasing my new song Goodbye – it’s bittersweet because it is reflecting on a darker time in my life,” he reveals.
“The song is about my years of substance abuse, but at the same time there is a positivity about it because I’m out the other side and I’m in a really good place now. So, I’m able to share that story from a place of clarity. And if I can help at least one person then I’m happy with that.”
Jack has been open with fans about his recent struggles, after checking in to a rehab facility in August 2020.
Though he admits it can be ‘completely’ daunting to offer his personal life up to the public, Jack says he’d rather share his side of the story.
“[It’s daunting] because you think well, I’m open for judgement. But, if I’m open for judgement anyway I might as well tell the real story.”
While being in the public eye certainly leaves stars like Jack open to judgement, it also places them in a unique position to connect with people from all over the world.
The singer reveals it’s been “beautiful and touching” to see how his experiences and latest song have been received by fans.
“The messages I get in my Instagram inbox are just… I cry all the time,” Jack says. “Because there’s people reaching out, whether they’re still stuck in a hard time or they’re out the other side and they’re saying how they connected with me or my music, it’s a lot to hear but it’s so beautiful and so amazing.”
“Especially when, the things that I share, with these kinds of heavier things, are real life. It’s my real life. And knowing it’s affected someone in a way that it’s touched them is just beautiful.”
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