“The Masked Singer” season 10: Here's everything we know so far
The Masked Singer is gearing up for its landmark 10th season, and not surprisingly, Fox is going all out to celebrate.
From a special premiere episode with a massive unmasking, to fresh spins on old format twists, to a bevy of special guests and Masked Singer alumni, there's a lot to unpack about the new episodes.
So, as we gear up to hear Robin Thicke's dad jokes and Ken Jeong's wrong guesses get booed once more, EW has gathered everything we know about season 10 so far. Be sure to check back, as we'll update the story below as more gets revealed in the days and weeks ahead.
What happened in The Masked Singer season 10 special premiere episode?
In lieu of the usual pre-season preview episode, and in honor of its milestone season, a special Masked Singer kickoff premiere episode aired Sunday, Sept. 10 on Fox. The premiere delivered a reveal that Fox touted as "one of the biggest, can't-miss unmaskings in the show's history." Living up to the hype, Anonymouse was revealed as pop star Demi Lovato.
The rest of the episode featured the return of The Masked Singer celebrity alumni from previous seasons paired up for duet performances (unmasked, naturally). The alumni pairings included: Michelle Williams (season 2's Butterfly) and Rumer Willis (season 1's Lion), Joey Fatone (season 1's Rabbit) and Bow Wow (season 3's Frog), and Victor Oladipo (season 2's Thingamajig) and Barry Zito (season 3's Rhino).
Watch Lovato's performance of Heart's "What About Love?" below.
Okay, so when does The Masked Singer actually start and where can I watch?
The actual season 10 competition will start on the previously announced premiere date of Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the show's normal time slot of 8-9 p.m. ET/PT. Viewers can catch up on the show on Hulu, Fox.com, Tubi, and On Demand. On Demand episodes are available for customers of Cox Contour TV, DIRECTV, DISH, fuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, Optimum, Spectrum, Verizon FiOS, XFINITY, YouTube TV, and many more.
Is the format of the show the same?
Yes... and no. The Masked Singer has opted to switch things up by bringing back past format twists and putting a slightly new spin on them. For instance, the competition will include an all-new format with three separate groups of singers — Group A will start with 5 competitors, B and C will each have four — which will culminate in special Battle Royale semi-final episodes for each group. The Battle Royale episodes will feature the return of a famous Masked Singer alumni who will perform one of their own hits, which the contestants then must perform their own rendition of.
Wild Card contestants will return to shake up the competition with one Wild Card introduced per group in the second episode of each grouping. Additionally, the "Ding Dong Keep It On" Bell is back in the Battle Royale semi-final episodes only, where the judges can choose to save just one contestant from elimination and move them directly to the finale. This means the bell can't be used in every group, but only once during the season as a whole and only in a Battle Royale episode. Therefore, the finale will have four finalists in it — one from each group, plus one saved contestant.
What are the new Masked Singer season 10 costumes?
This season will feature 16 total masked contestants, including Cow, Donut, Anteater, Hawk, Hibiscus, and S'More. Sneak a peek at some other new costumes, including Cuddle Monster, the biggest costume the show has ever had, in the preview clip below. Fox isn't revealing their official names just yet, but EW also spies a rubber ducky in a bathtub and a gazelle of some kind in that clip as well.
In the special kickoff episode on Sept. 10, Fox revealed the costumes for Gazelle, Husky, Royal Hen, and Diver. More recently, the network has unveiled the Tiki mask.
Stay tuned for more costumes as they are announced.
Will the same panel and host be returning?
Yes. Nick Cannon is returning as host of The Masked Singer season 10, with original panelists Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, and Robin Thicke all back once again.
Do we know what the themes are this season?
Yes! Fox has revealed that themed nights will include "Trolls Night," ahead of the November release of DreamWorks Animation's Trolls Band Together, a special "Harry Potter Night" episode airing the week of Halloween, and an iconic episode celebrating the music of Elton John, featuring song selections from the legendary superstar. Other themes include: "NFL Night," "One Hit Wonders," "Disco," "2000s Night," "I Wanna Rock" and "Soundtrack of My Life." As has been the case in the past, themes will be weaved throughout the performers' song selections, costumes, celebrity guests, and set designs — and may even provide clues as to who is under the mask.
Who will be appearing as a guest star or guest panelist on The Masked Singer season 10?
Per The Wrap, NSYNC's Lance Bass, The Office star Kate Flannery, Kelly Osbourne (The Masked Singer season 2's Ladybug), NFL wide receiver and free agent DeSean Jackson, comedian David Spade, and Poppy and Branch from Trolls will appear as special guests and clue givers this season.
The season will also feature several blasts from the past: Adrienne Bailon-Houghton (season 2's Flamingo) will perform "I Put a Spell on You" for the Harry Potter-themed episode and Le'Veon Bell (season 8's Milkshake) will perform the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feeling," possibly in the 2000s-themed episode.
Additionally, former contestants will also lend their hit songs to the Battle Royale competition episodes: Bret Michaels (season 3's Banana), Hunter Hayes (season 3's Astronaut) and Jewel (season 6's Queen of Hearts and winner), are all returning for that.
What are the clues for the celebrities under the masks?
In the kickoff episode, a few clues were given for the new contestants. For Diver, a picture of a cardinal was shown. "Usually I'm pretty pumped, but lately I've been lost in the abyss. I might be the most hated creature in the ocean right now," he said of the clue.
The clue for Royal Hen was a newspaper bearing the headline "Royal Hen Cracks Eggspectations & Takes the World By Storm." They tease, "I'm not only known in America, but because of what I did, I'm known around the world."
We also got introduced to the Husky costume, whose clue was a 10 million dollar bill. Of it, he said, "Don't go barking up the wrong tree. Listen, here's 10 million hints at who I am."
Additionally, every season, Fox teases the cumulative accolades for the new contestants. In season 10, the contestants boast a combined 40 medals, 33 Grammy nominations, 7 Hall of Fame Awards, 3 Lifetime Achievement Awards, and over 50 tattoos.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content: