Kate Nash has been revealed as Monkey Business on the ITV singing competition The Masked Singer.
The hit series returned to ITV recently for its seventh season, and is already more than halfway through. In the show, famous faces conceal their identities under elaborate costumes and belt out pop songs each week, while judges and viewers at home try to work out who is under the mask.
Already, eliminated contestants have included The One Show‘s Alex Jones, rapper Professor Green, Shakespears Sister singer Marcella Detroit, and Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon.
In the latest episode, it was the person performing under the Monkey Business disguise that was eliminated and revealed to be singer-songwriter Kate Nash.
The ‘Foundations’ singer was booted from the show after performing a cover of ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ from the classic musical Oliver!, in front of judges Jonathan Ross, Maya Jama, Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall, and Little Mix star Perrie Edwards.
Upon being unveiled, Nash told host Joel Dommett that she “really enjoyed” taking on the Monkey Business alias. “As soon as I saw the costume, I thought she was iconic,” she said.
“I was so nervous about it, but then I got really nervous about the mask coming off and how it was going to feel singing without the mask,” she added. “It’s like a little comfort zone, you’re not worrying about anything else when you’re in there. It was a unique experience [and] it’s going to be hard to give her up.”
***Great Show!……The Masked Singer ….‘Monkey Business’ unmasked as musician/actress Kate Nash 🤗🎈🎭 pic.twitter.com/hcPdd7X71U
— marie roche (@mariero45502253) January 24, 2026
The appearance on the series comes following Nash making headlines at the end of 2024 when she launched her ‘Butts for Tour Buses’ campaign, which saw her join OnlyFans to protest the music industry and help raise money for her UK and European tour.
She then took things one step further, and used the “bum on the back of a fire truck” campaign to head to the London offices of Live Nation, Spotify, and the Houses of Parliament to protest the challenges facing both new and established artists.
“The reality is that touring is making losses, not profit,” she told NME about the push to raise awareness and spark change. “The grassroots is in absolute crisis. Venues are closing, festivals are being cancelled. People are thinking, ‘What’s the point in starting a band?’ and ‘How can I as an artist carry on?’”
Speaking about the changes she hopes to see with the campaign, she added: “We need the government’s help, and we need it now. Lisa Nandy, the secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, has actually been amazing speaking to Live Nation and has been talking a lot about music in Parliament. Last month, she said to the music industry: ‘If you don’t do something, we’re going to be forced to act’.
“The most important thing an artist can do is fight for a better future. The one thing I’d really like to leave behind is to have made some kind of positive dent on this industry. I think I can make that dent with my bum.”
Nash’s departure from The Masked Singer comes after she survived a sing-off against another character called ‘Yak’, who was later unveiled to be PiL singer and former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon.
After being eliminated, the punk icon revealed that he was using the money made from the show to help fund the new Public Image Ltd album.
“The money has now gone and paid for us to go and record in Portugal for a solid month. And, a little holiday afterwards,” he said on This Morning, before revealing that none of his bandmates worked out that he was on the show.
“They were wondering where I got the money from the studio”, before saying that “they never put the two together”.
