One reason Celeste Ntuli opted to conceal her identity on The Masked Singer SA in that over-the-top costume of Tortoise was for gender fluidity, so that nobody would automatically guess if the celebrity was a woman or man.

After veteran actor Nthati Moshesh was revealed last week, the comedienne became the second star to be unmasked at the weekend.

Performing Lebo Mathosa anthem Free, it teleported the 45-year-old back in time to her early 20s, while she worked at a call centre agency. 

“I chose the tortoise because I knew it was going to cover my whole body. I didn’t want people guessing whether I’m a man or a woman… and it was so much fun hiding myself from them,” she said.

“This show is meant to bring out the child in us and all those nostalgic memories but for me, it took me back to the early days as a call centre agent at our Christmas party when Lebo was performing live. I remember just partying and dancing the moment away ... bear in mind I just got hired, some people were even confused whether I was Lebo’s backing dancer or something whenever I’d come in for my shift.”

But being on that stage was nothing like those days, it was much harder.

“Before stepping on stage, I was quite excited to sing, until I had to," she said. "I know I can’t sing but singing the way I did made me have a newfound respect for singers. Performing to an audience is not easy.

"You have to make sure you’re singing in tune, your choreography is on point carrying the emotion of this song. There are parts where I didn’t even sing like Lebo Mathosa, that’s how tough it was. With comedy, you just talk, so this was such an eye-opening experience.” 

While Ntuli was eliminated early in the competition, she’s glad that disguising as the tortoise helped inspire her to keep pushing her comedic footprint on the global entertainment scene. 

“I’ll never stop doing comedy. I’ll continue doing it till I’m 90… for as long as I can speak, I will continue making people laugh,” she said. “Comedy is my purpose and I’ve got a line-up of comedy shows that I’m hosting this year… people should keep a lookout on my social media. 

“South African comedy is in a good space right now and I believe we’re still going to dominate because of our impactful storytelling.” 

Ntuli was also fascinated by the technical aspects that go behind making such a show.

"I only got to be picked up just for one day. It was quite exciting to be blindfolded and being taken from my house to the studio by ‘security guards’. Having everything done so meticulously just so that my identity doesn’t get leaked to the public was such a cool experience for me,” said Ntuli. 

“The most exciting moment was being able to perform with the mask on. The producers and everyone involved in the show make a big deal of us when we’re on stage and that’s a moment I’ll cherish forever."