‘Masked Dancer’ host Joel Dommett says he cries after shows because of self doubt

Joel Dommett hosts The Masked Dancer and The Masked Singer. (ITV)
Joel Dommett hosts The Masked Dancer and The Masked Singer. (ITV)

The Masked Dancer host Joel Dommett might seem like he exudes confidence on the hit ITV show - but he has admitted the reality is very different, as he is often left in tears after shows because of impostor syndrome.

Comedian Dommett, 37, has landed a number of big TV roles, including hosting The Masked Singer, being runner up on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in 2016, and presenting the National Television Awards.

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However, he says he has been hit hard by nerves during his career and still sometimes cries after performing a show over self doubt.

Joel Dommett (left) with his Masked Dancer co-stars. (ITV)
Joel Dommett (left) with his Masked Dancer co-stars. (ITV)

Telling The Sun how wife Hannah Cooper supports him, he said: "I would phone Hannah after a show, crying down the phone, thinking I was so bad at it. I’d mess up the autocue and feel so nervous.

“I would go back to my hotel room and put an audiobook on subtitles and just read it out loud for hours on end to try to improve."

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Dommett admitted that rehearsing didn't really help for live TV, but that he had "learned to love it".

He added: “But I cry after shows every now and then. I am very self-critical. I am probably a bit too hard on myself.”

(L-R) Hannah Cooper and Joel Dommett attend ITV Palooza! at The Royal Festival Hall on November 23, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Joel Dommett with his wife Hannah Cooper. (Getty Images)

Despite working to overcome his nerves, Dommett also said that there was no chance he would ever become over-confident, because Cooper makes sure to keep his feet on the ground by telling him when he has been on TV too much.

Although he admitted it was often "difficult to say no" to jobs that he was offered, he said that he was able to now because his Masked Singer and Masked Dancer roles had offered him some job security, adding that "people would start to hate you” if he signed up to too many shows.

The Masked Dancer is currently airing season two on Saturdays on ITV, with Jesse Metcalfe and Joanna Page unmasked so far.

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