The first episode of series four of ITV’s McDonald and Dodds aired on Sunday night – but it was a particular character that left fans doing a double take

A shock awaited McDonald and Dodds fans as they noticed a distinguished pop star make an appearance in the popular ITV show.

The crime drama series, which premiered in 2020, stars Jason Watkins and Tala Gouveia as DCI Lauren McDonald and DS Dodds and has since garnered a large following. Sunday (July 21) marked the return of the Bath-based show with its fourth season’s opening episode featuring the mismatched detectives looking into a woman’s murder in a rented flat.

According to the synopsis, their investigation leads them to one of Bath’s wealthiest families upon finding a woman’s body missing for over 35 years, with all clues to her identity wiped out.

(Image: ITV))

However, the real buzz came from the surprise guest noughties singer Pixie Lott who portrayed Lola Baker. Fans were taken aback on recognising the star, now sporting a shorter hairdo compared to her singing career days.

On X, once known as Twitter, viewers expressed their astonishment: “Only just clocked the woman in white is Pixie Lott! ! “, with others chipping in: “Me too,” and another stating: “I thought it was! “, while another shocked viewer confessed: “I didn’t recognise Pixie Lott.”

(Image: ITV))

Actress Tala Gouveia couldn’t contain her excitement about Pixie’s appearance on the ITV show, confessing on The One Show: “I Googled before she came on, what was that song I used to listen to, All About Tonight, and I was like, ‘don’t sing it, don’t sing it’. But the last day I was humming it on set.”, reports the Express.

Delving into the essence of the series, Tala remarked: “McDonald and Dodds is a detective show set in beautiful Bath and the surrounding areas.”

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“It’s about two detectives from different walks of life, who despite their differences, work together to become an unstoppable team. It has all the things we know and love from classic British detective shows, and has been brought into the modern world in intricate, original stories by writer Robert Murphy.”

“I Googled before she came on, what was that song I used to listen to, All About Tonight, and I was like, ‘don’t sing it, don’t sing it’. But the last day I was humming it on set.”

“McDonald and Dodds is a detective show set in beautiful Bath and the surrounding areas.”

“It’s about two detectives from different walks of life, who despite their differences, work together to become an unstoppable team. It has all the things we know and love from classic British detective shows, and has been brought into the modern world in intricate, original stories by writer Robert Murphy.”