Alan Johnson kept his appearance on 'The Masked Singer' a secret from his kids.

Alan Johnson

Alan Johnson

The 69-year-old Labour party politician was the second star to be unmasked and booted from the ITV singing competition, in which celebrities perform in costumes to conceal their identities from a panel of judges, consisting of Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross, Rita Ora, and Ken Jeong.

And now that he's left the show, Alan has admitted he didn't tell anyone he was taking part, including his three kids, Emma, Jamie, and Oliver.

He said: "I didn't tell my kids, only my wife as we were sworn to silence. I texted my children [Emma, Jamie, and Oliver] on Sunday saying they had to watch. My mother-in-law asked me whether I was in the audience."

Although he only lasted one week in the competition, Alan received compliments from the judges, especially from Rita Ora, who guessed that it could have been Rod Stewart under the Pharaoh costume.

He added: "That boosted my confidence, although I am not sure what Rod would have thought."

The politician - who served as the Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010 - had to learn six songs for the show just in case he got through to the finals, and has said it was a "joy" to work with the team.

He gushed: "Rehearsing those with the team was just a joy and that was before we got into the costumes."

And Alan insists the decision to compete in a singing competition isn't that bizarre, because he originally wanted to be a musician before pursuing a political career.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, he said: "I made a record when I was 16, I thought my future was in music and I was a songwriter. I even sent songs to Elvis Costello when I was in my early 30s."