Pop singer Cody Simpson has been unmasked as the winner of the inaugural season of The Masked Singer.

The Gold Coast-born 22-year-old beat The Project panellist Gorgi Coghlan, who came third in the monster costume, and Australian Idol contestant and music theatre performer Rob Mills who came second in the wolf costume.

Simpson, who shot to fame as a 12-year-old with the single iYiYi, has remained relatively unknown to Australian audiences in recent years.

He released two albums, Paradise in 2012 and Surfers Paradise in 2013, before his recording contract with Atlantic Records fell over.

He has had numerous high profile relationships and, last year, performed on Broadway. He has shot back to notoriety in recent months due to his relationship with US pop singer Miley Cyrus.

He was the final celebrity to be unmasked after scoring the highest number of studio audience votes along with votes from the guessing panel of radio presenter Jackie O, singer and reality show judge Dannii Minogue, Hollywood celebrity Lindsay Lohan and comedian Dave Hughes.

In a slightly awkward moment Lohan correctly guessed Simpson was the singer behind the robot mask. She recalled he had dated her sister, and that she had furnished his Venice Beach apartment.

Simpson later said the furniture never arrived.

The series saw a dozen celebrities disguised in elaborate costumes perform covers of pop songs. The performers were former Big Brother host Gretel Killeen, cricketer Brett Lee, Olympic Games performer Nikki Webster, footballer Wendell Sailor, TV presenter and actor Darren McMullen and singers Adam Brand, Kate Ceberano, Paulini and Deni Hines.

The show has been an out-of-the-park success for Ten, the network which regularly weathers middle-of-the-road ratings, and occasionally suffers from ratings disasters like this year's reboot of Changing Rooms, but The Masked Singer has frequently pulled in more than a million viewers each episode.

Even the show's mid-season slump, which saw viewers drop to about 700,000, was a solid win for Ten. Its numbers have certainly put a smile on the face of the network's chief content officer Beverly McGarvey.

"I always like to keep an eye on what's coming and we will wait to see the ratings after the finale, but I am very happy," she said.

The series has been an immediate success for Ten and will return next year, with the format remaining relatively unchanged, according to McGarvey.

"The big difference for us next year is the expectation will be higher so we will need to work harder to meet that," she said.

"We will not be doing it over 40 hours or anything like that. This year there are effectively 10 episodes and next year you might see 11 or 12 ... there might be some incremental expansion.

"Part of the appeal is that it is a small, snappy burst so I don't see us expanding it enormously."

Ten has confirmed the same judging panel will remain in place next year, and while there has been some criticism of the calibre of celebrities on the show this year, McGarvey said they won't be going out to lure 12 of the hottest stars from around the world to capitalise on this year's success.

"It isn't an easy thing to cast any show in its first year and I think it will be easier casting year two," she said.

"It isn't about finding the most famous person. The interesting stories are the beautiful voices we haven't seen for a while or that might be out of their genre, or someone you didn't know could sing.

"For younger viewers, they don't know who some of these people are; for them it doesn't matter who the unicorn is - it's a unicorn that's the star.

"It's nice to have high profile people but it is also nice to have people that are known and loved for something else and see them in this context."