‘The Masked Singer’ Season 6 Adds Game-Changing Unmasking Twist

The competition on The Masked Singer is about to get even more heated, because Fox is officially upping the ante for The Masked Singer Season 6. As the fan-favorite competition series approaches its two-night Season 6 premiere, a new elimination twist is promising even more jaw-dropping surprises. When the new batch of episodes arrives later in September, the Take It Off Buzzer will be introduced.

The new twist is exactly what it sounds like. As this year’s celebrity contestants take the stage in one of the eight announced Season 6 costumes, the show’s returning panelists — Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger — can activate the buzzer with the press of a button when they are completely certain they know who a contestant is. After hitting the buzzer, they must say who they believe the contestant is, executive producer Craig Plestis confirmed to Entertainment Weekly. If they are correct, that contestant must immediately unmask themself and will be eliminated from the competition. If the panelist is wrong, the contestant can keep their mask on and continue on in the competition. As for what the Take It Off Buzzer means for the usual weekly eliminations if a contestant is eliminated via the new twist, showrunner James Breen said it could “possibly” mean there could be two eliminations in a single week. Breen added, “Yeah, anything can happen on The Masked Singer. There’s no rules.”

But using the button doesn’t come without risk. If the panelist is wrong with their guess, two points will be deducted from their “Golden Ear Trophy” score. According to Plestis, there is also an additional penalty that is “something that is absolutely humiliating,” though he refrained from revealing what that penalty is. If they are correct, however, they will reap the rewards of two points added to their score, pushing them one step closer to the Golden Ear Trophy, which is the prize handed out to the panelist with the most correct First Impression guesses at the end of the season.

“The whole idea to introduce this is just to add spontaneity. Our panel keeps saying, ‘I know who it is,’ but we wanted to put them to the test,” Pletis said. “So the Take It Off Buzzer can be used any time in the show, anytime. As long as that contestant’s on the stage, and [the panelist] thinks they know who that person is, they can hit that buzzer.”

The Masked Singer Season 6 kicks off its two-night premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. ET, with a second episode airing the following night, Thursday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. ET. Prior to the start of the new season, Fox will give fans a live 30-minute sneak peek of what’s to come on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET. Stay tuned to PopCulture for the latest updates!