‘The Masked Singer’ Season 5 to Add Surprise Wildcard Contestants

Season 5 of The Masked Singer hasn’t even premiered, but it’s already on track to be one of the most exciting seasons of the show yet. According to The Wrap, the show will incorporate surprise contestants who will compete in “Wildcard” rounds in order to try and nab a spot from an existing masked celebrity contestant. The Masked Singer is set to return on March 10 on Fox.

The competition will involve 10 contestants who are already scheduled to compete. They will be broken up into two groups of five (Group A and Group B). As for the “Wildcard” contestants, they will emerge at the end of “several” episodes in an attempt to unseat a member in one of the respective groups. They would subsequently be able to officially join the competition in the hopes of taking home the win. While Fox has not yet revealed the costumes for these “Wildcard” contestants, they have unveiled several of the costumes that the masked celebrities will be donning during Season 5 of the competition. Six of the regulars who will be competing include Phoenix, Piglet, Grandpa Monster, Chameleon, Black Swan, and Porcupine.

According to Fox, Season 5 features an array of contestants with some pretty impressive accolades. The network said about the masked celebrities, “The Season 5 contestants boast a combined 26 Grammy nominations, nine multi-platinum singles, four Academy Award nominations, three Super Bowl appearances, six gold medals and two World Records.” The judges’ panel, which is comprised of Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger, Robin Thicke, and Jenny McCarthy, will all be back to share their guesses behind the mysterious singing celebrities’ identities. However, toward the beginning of Season 5, fans will not be able to see Nick Cannon at the helm, as he had to step aside from filming after he tested positive for the coronavirus. Niecy Nash, who has been a guest host before on the series, has been tapped to fill in for him for the time being. Cannon is expected to return at a later date in the season.

Season 4 of The Masked Singer ended in mid-December. In the end, the competition came down to the Sun, Crocodile and the Mushroom. Crocodile, who came in third, was later revealed to have been Backstreet Boys crooner Nick Carter. The Mushroom came in second, and they removed their mask to reveal that they were singer Aloe Blacc. After several breathtaking performances, the Sun walked away with the win. They were later revealed to have been singer LeAnn Rimes.