Ian Wright and Mo Gilligan were on to me, says Masked Dancer’s David Seaman

Pillar and Post were unmasked after exiting the competition unexpectedly on Saturday.
Pillar and Post were revealed as David and Frankie Poultney (Vincent Dolman/ITV/PA)
PA Media
Ellie Iorizzo3 October 2022
The Weekender

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Former England goalkeeper David Seaman said Ian Wright and Mo Gilligan had worked out he was behind the disguise on ITV’s The Masked Dancer.

Seaman was part of the show’s first-ever double act alongside his wife, ice skating star Frankie Poultney, who together were Pillar and Post.

The 59-year-old, who reached the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championship with England, said: “It was so funny because afterwards we did Soccer Aid and Mo (Gilligan) was on the Rest of the World team.

“As we were walking around afterwards, he went ‘You’ve done Masked Dancer haven’t you’. I was like ‘Shhh’ you can’t tell anybody.

“All of my friends were texting me and I just kept sending the laughing emoji, that could be a yes or it could be no and I was like ‘I’m not calling or speaking to anybody’.

“Wrighty (Ian Wright) was on to me, he was like ‘it’s you, isn’t it’, I just put a smiley face.”

On Saturday, it was revealed that the married couple, who first met on Dancing On Ice in 2008, had been forced to withdraw from the competition.

Host Joel Dommett explained: “Sadly, Pillar took a tumble during rehearsals and I am absolutely gutted to tell you that on medical advice they have had to withdraw from the competition.”

Panellists Jonathan Ross, Oti Mabuse, Davina McCall and Peter Crouch were given one final chance to guess who the disguised dancing duo might be, before they were revealed to be married couple Seaman and Poultney.

Seaman said: “Crouchy (Peter Crouch) got quite a few of the clues with the bottle tops which meant caps and he said about the hands and everything.

“It was a great experience. It was an experience I was half looking forward to but I was nervous and then when I found out what it was like, it was really hard in the mask because it was so hot.

“I could try and save a penalty in front of as many million as you want, it could be 100 million people and I would look forward to that. This is a different level.

“When we got the routine done I realised I didn’t have to have rhythm. That was my worst fear trying to dance with rhythm, I know I haven’t got rhythm so I don’t try and dance, I don’t even dance when I’ve had 10 pints.”

Saturday evening’s episode of ITV’s mystery celebrity dancing show saw TV presenter Steph McGovern eliminated from the competition as Tomato Sauce.

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