Fans have been left shocked after John Lydon was revealed to be the performer hidden behind the Yak costume on The Masked Singer.
READ MORE: John Lydon on how he’s channelling grief into a new “raucous” Public Image Ltd album
The reality singing competition sees celebrities compete against each other, donned in disguises used to conceal their identities from a judging panel and a studio audience, who are invited to vote for their favourite contestant. The celebrity with the least number of votes must unveil their true identity.
Last Friday (January 9), the Yak character performed a rendition of Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical’, and was later subjected to the sing-off against the ‘Monkey Business’ contestant.
After getting eliminated and being made to take off his disguise, Lydon was revealed to be the Yak, and his official social media account then shared: “John’s got the sad sack yak off his back and now he’s off to record the new PiL album! Thank you ITV, Masked Singer! Let’s Get Physical.”
In his exit interview on the show, Lydon was playfully asked if his appearance on the show was a career highlight, to which he replied, “I hardly think so. For me, I hope the fun comes across.
John’s got the sad sack yak off his back and now he’s off to record the new PiL album! Thank you ITV, Masked Singer! Let’s Get Physical.https://t.co/8lHC0MoHh3#themaskedsinger #maskedsinger pic.twitter.com/mO9FkZ9VsN
— John Lydon Official (@lydonofficial) January 11, 2026
“Rather than going up there and doing sing-along and guessing who I am straight away, I thought, show the other side of me. An absolute funstar. I’m the court jester by nature. It’s just the way it is.”
When Lydon was asked whether he was sad to be leaving the television show, he replied: “Certainly not. I think it’s been a privilege for you to have me.”
He’s certainly no stranger to getting airtime, having had several infamous moments associated with past TV appearances. Early on in his career with the Pistols, he had a run-in with Bill Grundy now considered one of the seminal moments in punk history.
Then, in the 2010s, the PiL frontman became a regular face on British TV after becoming the face of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, and then appeared alongside Katie Price and Peter Andre on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! – something he later he did in order to buy back the rights to the band’s songs.
“The money for the butter ads wasn’t huge but it helped me put something up against the outstanding debt, and I could start crawling my way slowly and surely out of those constraints,” he said at the time.
“I could then basically buy myself out of those restrictive contracts. When I worked with the butter people, they gave me a free hand.”
More recently, he’s been a fixture of headlines after warring with his former Sex Pistols bandmates. Relations between them have been frosty in recent years, with the singer being openly critical of their decision to take the band back on the road and enlist former Gallows frontman Frank Carter in Lydon’s place.
“It’s almost malicious in its intent,” he told NME last year. “And it’s karaoke – that’s all it will ever be. Bloody hell, The Three Stooges in that band have had how many years to write some new songs? That’s what I’d like to hear.”
In further comments in May, Lydon added: “It’s weird. [It’s] a dumbing down of all the integrity, intensity, genuine honesty and heartfelt emotions I put into that band.”
The Pistols and Carter played a series of shows at London’s Bush Hall last year, and they have since gone on to play tours around the UK and beyond.
In October, Matlock also suggested that they “have ideas” for making new music with Carter. “Everyone has ideas, but we’re very busy at the moment and haven’t had a chance to really work things out,” he said.
NME also asked Jones about the possibility earlier this year. “I think if you do anything new and you’re playing it live, that’s when people go and get a drink,” he said. “When was the last time you heard a good Rolling Stones song?”
“I think you really have a window when you’re young, where you’re really creative and you’re on the ball. When you’re older, I think it runs out. I could be wrong!”
As for PiL, the band recently announced ‘Alive’, their latest self-produced live album with music taken from their stops on last year’s ‘This is Not the Last Tour’. As yet, there’s been no official announcement about the new record Lydon posted about recording.
The post Watch the moment John Lydon is unmasked on ‘The Masked Singer’ appeared first on NME.
