The final episode of series two of The Masked Singer peaked with a massive 10.6 million viewers and a 47% audience share last night, according to early ratings figures.

The peak audience came towards the end of the show as Sausage was named the winner and revealed to be the soul singer Joss Stone.

The 90-minute finale, which also saw Badger and Robin unmasked as Ne-Yo and Aston Merrygold respectively, averaged 8.6 million viewers between 7pm and 8.30pm - the most-watched live programme of the year so far outside of news and sport.

The figure - up 2.2 million on the series one finale - is likely to rise further still in the coming weeks as catch-up and on-demand viewing are factored in.

"In these testing times, we're delighted that The Masked Singer has brought some escapist joy and light relief to so many viewers at home," said ITV MD Kevin Lygo.

"At the end of a long week in lockdown we're all coming together and trying to guess who's dressed as a giant sausage, and quite frankly, it's been a brilliantly entertaining tonic."

ITV is already thought to have given the go-ahead to both a third series and a spinoff show The Masked Dancer, with the hopes that the latter can be fast-tracked to air later this spring.