HOSTING the UK’s most talked-about show isn’t the only thing Joel Dommett is thankful for.

The Masked Singer presenter is also glad that he gets to call model Hannah Cooper his wife — among other things.

He said: “It’s worked out all right, really. I’m very lucky.

“A lot of people call their wives ‘babe’ or ‘chick’. I go for Sexy Sexpot of Sex. But her nickname for me is just Joel. That’s as far as it goes.”

Joel, 35, first noticed the ­stunning 30-year-old after she drunkenly messaged him a cat emoji on Instagram — and they married three years later.

The most awkward experience in the two-year marriage came earlier in the latest series of the hit ITV show, where celebs perform in bonkers outfits to disguise their identities, while a panel — and the audience at home — have to guess who they are.

At one point Joel convinced himself Hannah was the mystery singer dressed as an alien.

He said: “There was a real moment where I was like, ‘I think it might actually be my wife’. I got off stage and I texted her, like, ‘Ha ha, the show’s going really well. At one point, I thought it might be you on here. Lol’. Just to put it out there to see if she’d react. And she didn’t reply.

“She usually replies and I was like, ‘It could be her!’.”

But when the mask came off, it turned out to be singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

‘I apologise that I’m always topless’

Joel added: “I felt really rude. I had to look at Sophie in a way I would never normally look at her.

“Is that my wife? Is that my wife’s calf muscle? That’s the level it was going to.”

And while Hannah is a model, Joel is by no means camera-shy either.

Throughout lockdown, the hunk has posted many topless photos of himself on Instagram and he admits he is a bigger poser than his wife.

He said: “Everyone’s in lockdown and there’s nothing really exciting happening so I take my top off.

“That’s all you can do. But I ­apologise that I’m always topless. I know it’s happening a lot.”

Last week Joel pulled out all the stops with a salsa-themed bash for Hannah’s 30th. It was an improvement on a previous birthday, which almost ended with a visit from the fire brigade after he tried to set a romantic mood.

Joel said: “I remember her first birthday after we were together. I got her a present that I thought she might like but I hadn’t really listened.

“She wasn’t ungrateful, but she was just like, ‘What was the thought behind this?’

“Anyway, I had lit a candle, a cushion went on to it and we nearly burnt our house down.

“It was just the worst birthday ever. So after that I keep trying to make sure I give thoughtful gifts.”

As well as Sophie, the second series of The Masked Singer has so far given us Spice Girl Mel B revealed as ­Seahorse in week two, followed by Swan unmasked as actress Martine McCutcheon plus football pundit and ex-England boss Glenn Hoddle inside Grandfather Clock.

More than seven million viewers are tuning in each week to find out who will emerge from inside one of the outfits — as well as enjoying some light relief amid lockdown.

Joel said: “It’s been such a surreal, crazy year. I think the show matches that craziness and steps it up a notch. What’s beautiful about it is that there’s no drama to the show.

“We’re not trying to be ­anything more than it is. It’s just silly fun and that’s what people need.

“I’m not a betting man but if I was, I definitely wouldn’t have put a bet on hosting a singing competition where an England manager beats a Spice Girl.”

As if a show where A-listers ­perform as big-headed mascots is not odd enough, Joel admits that the wide spectrum of panellists — telly’s Jonathan Ross and Davina McCall, singer Rita Ora and a newcomer, comic Mo Gilligan — helps make it a wacky watch. Asked who is the biggest diva on the panel, Joel joked: “I think that’s pretty equal between Rita and Jonathan.

“But nobody could have seen that duo becoming such a wonderful friendship. They speak to each other all the time.

“It’s an odd teaming but they work so well. I think it’s wonderful.

“And with Mo coming in, everyone just gels beautifully. They all have a different technique of how they approach the guesses and stuff, and it’s great.”

‘Wayne Rooney was singing Mustang Sally’

It’s no mean feat for Joel to take charge of a programme in front of Davina and Jonathan — two of the nation’s most well-known presenters.
But he says the pair are so proud of him that he has become their adopted TV son.

Joel said: “From my perspective, hosting a show in front of Davina and Jonathan is such a pleasure. And the fact they like what I’m doing and are supporting me is ­wonderful.

“I really respect them and they’re sort of my TV mum and TV dad. We have a great time.”

Comic Joel shot to fame after he came second to Scarlett Moffatt on I’m A Celebrity in 2016.

Since then he has been rubbing ­shoulders with A-listers — and admits he was starstruck when he took part in the Soccer Aid charity football match last year and was involved in a line-up with some of the biggest names in entertainment and football.

But Joel maintains that if he ever forgets his place his wife keeps his feet on the ground, as she would not want to be married to a “lofty” celeb.

He said: “Soccer Aid, for me, was a big one. We had to quarantine in a hotel in Manchester for days. It was the most famous people I’ve ever seen in a room in my life.

“At one point Wayne Rooney was singing Mustang Sally and James Bay was playing the guitar. And John Bishop and Paddy McGuinness were there. Everyone you’ve ever seen on television seemed like they were there.

“It was such a good, amazing dream to be a part of. I just wish I was better at football. But Hannah keeps me grounded. If I was to ever have a lofty ego I think she would immediately hate me.

“And my best friend, Steve Dunne, who I write with a lot, he’s really amazing. He’s someone I would ­genuinely be embarrassed in front of if I was to become ‘famous’.

“It’s important to remember that as quickly as you’ve got to this place, you can quickly leave. I always think you’re only ever two ­cancelled shows away from being unemployed.

“So although I’m on Saturday night television right now, that could be taken away from me. And I’d just have to be like anyone else and keep working.”

Joel will be back on TV tonight unmasking another well-known face.

As the show was recorded in September, he knows who all the disguised celebrities are — and he lets slip that this year’s line-up is genuinely star-studded.

Joel said: “It must be getting ­easier to book celebrities because I think the names in this series are way better than the first.

‘His trouser leg was split up to his buttocks’

“There are some ones that are yet to be revealed that are really incredible and hard to get.”

But while some of the big names taking part are skilled performers, it was perhaps inevitable that the big costumes they wear would eventually cause an accident.

Joel said: “There was one which made me laugh so much. They can’t see where they are walking, so people in the black and white suits and the glasses take them off stage.

“There was this one guy in the suit leading someone off — I think it was Blob — and the celebrity’s costume was so big that this guy was on the edge of the runway.

“He completely fell off the side and, fair play to him, he flipped off in the most graceful manner.

“I talked to him afterwards and he was some sort of stuntman or MMA guy. He fell off with the biggest thud and all that we heard was ‘Ahh’. I love that moment when someone falls over and there’s a silence where everyone’s like, ‘Are they OK?’

“Then he goes, ‘I’m fine’ and everyone just laughed. He split his entire trouser leg from his knee all the way up to his buttocks.

“It made me laugh for about 20 minutes.”

• The Masked Singer continues on ITV tonight at 7pm.

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