Rudy Giuliani revealed on The Masked Singer TV show

Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and ex-mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani has been unmasked as a contestant on US TV show The Masked Singer.

That performance led one of the show's judges, comedian Ken Jeong, to walk off, saying: "I'm done."

Mr Giuliani, one of Mr Trump's key allies when claiming electoral fraud in 2020, was identified as the personality inside the Jack in the Box costume.

After being unmasked, he then sang the George Thorogood song Bad to the Bone.

Jeong's fellow judges Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg and Nicole Scherzinger danced along to Mr Giuliani's rendition.

He is a controversial figure for his role in promoting the baseless claim that Mr Trump really won the 2020 US presidential election.

Last June, he had his law licence suspended in New York for making "demonstrably false and misleading" claims around the election.

He also spoke at a rally before the storming of the Capitol in Washington, DC on 6 January 2021, encouraging protesters to "have trial by combat".

US entertainment magazine Variety said his casting was the show's "worst decision yet".

Columnist Daniel D'Addario wrote: "Treating Giuliani as a plaything for our culture, albeit one who has made some controversial choices, is not a matter of policy disagreement, or of being a bit too grave about the lighter side of the news.

"Fox gave time and attention to a powerful figure who would have, if given his way, put the last nail in the coffin of democracy in this country."

Asked why he agreed to appear, Mr Giuliani told host Nick Cannon: "I guess the main reason is I just had a granddaughter, Grace, and I want her to know that you should try everything, even things that are completely unlike you and unlikely. I couldn't think of anything more unlike me and unlikely than this.

"I enjoy the show and I have for years, and it just seemed like it would be fun, and I don't get to have a lot of fun."

He added that it had been "a really wonderful experience".

He's not the first political figure to appear on the programme. Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin appeared as Bear in 2020.