‘The Masked Dancer’: Fox Partners With Ellen DeGeneres On ‘The Masked Singer’ Spinoff – TCA

Peter White

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The Masked Singer has waltzed off with a spin-off after Fox teamed with Ellen DeGeneres to produce The Masked Dancer.

The broadcaster has ordered the series based on a popular segment on The Ellen Show where the talkshow host and guests must guess the identity of a celebrity dancer, more than just a nod to the Fox hit.

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It is produced by Fox Alternative Entertainment and Warner Bros. Unscripted & Alternative Television with DeGeneres exec producing. The comedian has previously joked about “not being sued yet” over the segment.

The guessing game, with DeGeneres and her DJ Twitch, has featured celebrities such as Howie Mandel, Sean Hayes, Derek Hough and Colton Underwood as well as The Masked Singer panelist Ken Jeong. In the format, celebrity contestants will perform unique dances, while covered from head-to-toe in elaborate costumes and face masks, leaving audiences to guess their identities.

It comes as The Masked Singer is gearing up for its third season, set to launch after the Super Bowl in February. The show, which is based on MBC’s Korean format The King of Mask Singer, has become one of the biggest entertainment launches in the U.S. in the last five years. Hit reality competitions often score spin-offs and The Masked Singer is no different. The Masked Singer executive producer Craig Plestis will also be involved in some capacity.

The show was announced today during Fox’s presentation at the TCA Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, CA.

“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, Alternative Entertainment and Specials, Fox Entertainment. “We are thrilled to partner with Ellen on this new format and take The Masked Singer 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,” added DeGeneres. “And I cannot wait.”

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