Iconic Stars In Their Eyes host Matthew Kelly shocks Denise Welch by revealing his real name during Good Morning Britain appearance
Iconic Stars In Their Eyes presenter Matthew Kelly shocked Denise Welch by revealing his real name during a Good Morning Britain appearance on Monday.
The TV presenter, 73, is best known for helming the classical singing competition from 1993 to 2004, where audiences donned elaborate costumes and tried to perform as their favorite singer.
As part of the game show, the contestants gave Matthew three clues about the star they were going to impersonate and then said, “Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to…”
But Matthew admitted that while he is ‘very proud’ to have become part of a national slogan, his real name is in fact David.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he said: ‘I’m very proud to be the Matthew in the film ‘Tonight Matthew I’m going to be…’. It’s not even my real name, it’s not my real name. My real name is David!’
Matthew Kelly revealed his real name during a Good Morning Britain appearance with Denise Welch on Monday – it’s in fact David
Denise joined the show in 1999 at the height of her Coronation Street fame, when she impersonated 1960s singer Petula Clark.
The former Game For a Laugh presenter is preparing to star opposite Loose Women panelist Denise Welch, 65, in a production of The Gap at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theater but even she was shocked by the revelation.
She said, “I didn’t know that!”
He replied, ‘Didn’t you know? Yes.’
She joked: ‘Tonight Matthew, I’m going to be David’
Matthew first met Denise when she starred as Rovers landlady Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street and she famously appeared in a version of Stars In Their Eyes.
The former Waterloo Road actress took on the role of ’60s icon Petula Clark for the special and performed her signature song Downtown.
Introduced on stage as ‘the original Britney Spears’, Denise failed to win her edition of the show but revealed a camera mishap left the audience waiting after she went through the famous double doors for her transformation.
She said: “Kirsty Young won as Peggy Lee. She was great. When I went through the smoke, after I came out and said, ‘Tonight Matthew,’ the big camera going over the audience broke, five hours before I came out again!
Matthew presented the series for almost a decade (pictured here with Nicola Kirsch, who built a musical career after wowing viewers with her impersonation of opera singer Maria Callas)
The TV star presented a number of celebrity editions but mainly welcomed members of the public to the show (pictured with Barry Sellers as Eric Clapton)
Former SMTV Live star Cat Deeley took over hosting duties in 2004 and even presented a junior version of the program (pictured in 2004)
‘It was worth the wait!’
Matthew was the second host of the original show, taking over from Leslie Crowther in 1993.
He was replaced in 2004 by Cat Deeley, who took over until the show ended in 2006 and when the series was revived for a single series in 2015, former TVBurp star Harry Hill was at the helm.
The format was transformed into Starstruck in 2022 and featured a star-studded judging panel including Sheridan Smith, Adam Lambert, Beverley Knight and Jason Manford, but the program was axed after just two series.