Fans of the ITVX show The Masked Singer believe the Emmerdale star from Oldham could be 'Dippy Egg'.

Viewers of the show were shocked on Saturday night when Strictly Come Dancing judge, Shirley Ballas, was unmasked as 'Rat'.

Rat lost out to Dippy Egg in the sing-off and Shirley revealed she was the rodent, much to the judging panel's surprise.

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Maypole, Bigfoot and Cricket also took to the stage and speculation has been growing on the identities of the contestants, along with who will win the show overall.

Watchers took to social media to air their thoughts on Saturday, with many believing Dippy Egg could be Oldham's own Kelvin Fletcher.

Kelvin, who shot to fame as Andy Sugden in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale is also known as a presenter and farmer.

The TV star hails from Chadderton and first started attending drama classes from the age of six at Oldham Theatre Workshop.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, several fans said they believed the Oldhamer could be behind the Dippy Egg mask.

Clues to the hidden identity of the mystery celebrity include three pairs of Wellington boots and a reference to Strictly Come Dancing.

One user said: "Dippy Egg, Kelvin Fletcher? He is a farmer, did charity football too and was on Strictly."

Another wrote: "After that Strictly clue, it's definitely Kelvin Fletcher."

A third added: "If Dippy Egg is Kelvin Fletcher off Emmerdale, he's one hell of a singer."

However, many others have cast their votes elsewhere.

One woman wrote: "I think Dippy Egg is James Martin. He did Strictly. He does morning TV. He has a farm."

Others said they thought MP Ed Balls, the former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and British broadcaster from Norwich, could be behind the mask.

An X user wrote: "Reasons why Dippy Egg is Ed Balls: Yellow, thie and blue = Leeds United.

"Politician, was a constituent and MP for Morley, Leeds.

"Presents Good Morning Britain.

"Was on Strictly."

Another woman said she has guessed it was Matt Barker.

She added: "As soon as I saw the farm and now after a quick Google search, all the clues add up so if Dippy Egg is him, I'll be putting first guess genius on my CV."

A woman agreed: "I think Dippy Egg is Matt Baker. Baked potato, Strictly, cake, animals, his farm."

Chris Moyles, Bradley Walsh, Dan Walker, Jim Mistry, Jeremy Clarkson, Adam Henson, Anton du Beke and Les Dennis were also flagged by social media users.

However, odds at the bookies place Kelvin Fletcher as the most likely celeb, with an odd of 1/2 and 66.7 per cent probability.

Gambling.com also places Will Mellor as a possible contender, with odds of 4/1, followed by Tony Audenshaw (5/1), Noel Fielding (6/1), Shane Richie (8.1), Gregg Wallace (10/1) and Nicky Campbell (12/1).

Market expert, James Leyfield, said: "Dippy Egg is currently popping up the winners market at 14/1, after the character was nearly beaten by Rat in the sing off.

"Former Emmerdale actor-turned-farmer, Kelvin Fletcher, is into 1/2 favourite to be Dippy Egg.

"The character has mentioned being on the catwalk, and Kelvin used to be a model before his days in the Dales."

The researcher also revealed Maypole is a top favourite to win the competition with Rita Ora marked as the most likely star behind the mask.

He added: "Rita is the 2/1 favourite on Masked Singer with bookmakers to be Maypole, after some of the character's clues included Love Island references, and there was a clue about 'turning', which some fans believe could refer to The Voice.

"Lemar is the new 4/6 favourite to be Cricket after guest judge Olly claimed to know who it was, saying on the show: 'I know that voice, he sang at my friend's wedding.'

"What's more, TV presenter Reggie Yates is 5/1 to be Cricket after one of the character's clues was a mouse, and Reggie once voiced children's TV character Rastamouse."

Got a story? Email me Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @Livbridge