As The Masked Singer heads into its third season just one calendar year after its first season premiered, Fox revealed Tuesday that it has launched its first spinoff of the reality series – The Masked Dancer. Inspired by a popular segment on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, secret celebrity contestants will perform unique dances, while wearing head-to-toe elaborate costumes and masks covering their face, just like on The Masked Singer.
DeGeneres introduced the game to her talk show after The Masked Singer became such a hit. The likes of Howie Mandel, Sean Hayes, Dancing With the Stars alum Derek Hough and Masked Singer judge Ken Jeong have all suited up for DeGeneres’ model. Since the segment’s debut in January 2019, the videos have averaged nearly three million views on YouTube.
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DeGeneres, 61, will serve as an executive producer on the new series. Fox made the announcement Tuesday at the winter Television Critics Association press tour.
“We’re still blown away by The Masked Singer‘s massive impact on pop culture, but when Ellen debuted her own inventive segment, “The Masked Dancer,” on her show, we were truly amazed,” said Rob Wade, President of Alternative Entertainment & Specials at Fox Entertainment. “We are thrilled to partner with Ellen on this new format and take The Masked Dancer to a whole new creative level.”
This is gonna be just as fun and suspenseful as The Masked Singer but with a lot more Krumping and I cannot wait,” DeGeneres said.
The Masked Singer, hosted by Nick Cannon, first debuted on Fox in January 2019. The panel of judges includes Nicole Scherzinger, Jenny McCarthy, Robin Thicke and Jeong. For the Season 3 premiere, which is scheduled for immediately after the Super Bowl, Jamie Foxx will join as a guest panelist.
Past celebrities who have competed on The Masked Singer include T-Pain (who won season 1 as The Monster), Wayne Brady (who won Season 2 as The Fox), Donny Osmond, Gladys Knight, Joey Fatone, Ricki Lake, Chris Daughtry, Adrienne Bailon, Seal, Victor Oladipo and Raven-Symoné.
The recently concluded second season averaged 3 million total viewers after seven days of DVR and tied with NBC drama This Is Us as the season’s top entertainment program.
As for DeGeneres, The Masked Dancer is her latest unscripted foray into TV and joins NBC’s Little Big Shots as well as Ellen’s Game of Games.
The Masked Dancer does not yet have an episode count or premiere date.
