3 reasons why Richie Sambora is the Jacket Potato on the UK's Masked Singer

ITV
(Image credit: ITV)

The internet is cooking with conjecture right now that the UK's Masked Singer TV show might have a genuine rock star in its midst under the disguise of a jacket potato outfit - and it sounds like it's former Bon Jovi man Richie Sambora.

The show features a celebrity panel trying to uncover the identities of various performers as they sing well-known songs dressed in various outlandish outfits to mask their identities. 

Here's three giveaways that it could be Sambora… 

1. He plays guitar 

OK, not conclusive in itself, but whoever it is clearly knows their way around a T-style guitar's fretboard well enough to do it while wearing gloves. 

There's also the small detail that it sounds like Richie Sambora singing Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Way and possibly intentionally slurring a little to throw the judges, including Rita Ora, off. 


2. It definitely sounds like Richie Sambora 

There are those that claim it sounds like UK soapstar and general entertainer Shane Ritchie, but no – listen to this take on the latino strut of Rob Thomas and Carlos Santana hit Smooth from episode five. 

Now image that voice doing the backing vocals on Bad Medicine. 

3. The conclusive proof? 

See potato singing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah above. Then Sambora singing it below in December 2022. Done deal? And he's wearing a jacket.

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.