AceShowbiz - Ne-Yo shed 20lbs because of his "The Masked Singer" costume. The "So Sick" hitmaker was victorious on season ten of the reality singing competition as Cow earlier this week, and he admitted he had undergone a dramatic transformation because of his cumbersome outfit.

"I lost about 20 lbs. because the costume did not breathe at all," he told Extra.

And the 44-year-old star - who came second on the UK version of the show as Badger in 2021 - also had a hard time seeing where he was going when he had to move around the stage because the mouth didn't line up with his eyeline. He said, "There was a couple performances where they included, like, steps and stairs and I'm like, 'So y'all want me to fall on my face. Okay, cool.' "

Ne-Yo deliberately chose a female costume to "throw people off" because he was convinced his distinctive voice would "give [him] away" - but his mom and seven children couldn't be fooled. He said, "My kids and my mom figured it out from the first performance. Me and the kids sit and watch, me and my mom sit and watch. I love that it's a show that you can literally sit with every generation of your family and enjoy."

The "Miss Independent" singer has also admitted he felt opting for a female costume changed his performances. The singer - whose real name is Shaffer Smith - told People magazine, "It gave me the opportunity to step outside my wheelhouse a little bit. As a male cow, I could probably still dance like me. I'm definitely going to sound like me. And I was like, yeah, I'll get caught quick like that."

Ne-Yo "had an absolute ball" on the programme. He said, "It's been, in a word, fun. I had an absolute ball with it. It was a lot of fun stepping outside of the Ne-Yo box for a minute and being somebody else. I genuinely enjoyed the experience and I would do it again if I felt like I could get away with it."