Everything we know about ‘The Masked Singer’ season 5

The masks are back. The Masked Singer kicks off a brand new season on March 10 (8 pET on CTV), which means it’s time to brush up on your pop culture trivia and get ready to break out all of your best guesses as to who could possibly be underneath those elaborate costumes. Here’s what we know about the brand new season when it returns in all its glory.

A new host with the most

Right before production on the new season kicked off, host Nick Cannon was diagnosed with COVID-19 and he was unable to return to work right away. But, as they say in this business, the show must go on, and former guest-judge Niecy Nash was asked to come in and save the day.

“It was way different hosting because I wanted my own guesses,” Nash recently revealed during the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. “I wanted to look to my left or right and say, ‘Now, which one do you think it sounds like?’ but you can't because you are up there trying to lead the charge, lead the circus.”

That doesn’t mean Nash didn’t bust out her own guesses in her spare time, of course. “Every time I had a free moment I was somewhere trying to figure out the clues and take in the clue package,” she added. “So, I loved it because I still felt like a viewer at home even though I was hosting.”

According to the producers, Nash hosts for the first half of the season, and then Cannon returns to reprise his gig. Meanwhile, all four of the original panelists—Robin Thicke, Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg—are back on the panel. And speaking of Ken, he won’t be Ken Jeong so wrong this season, either.

Maybe it’s because the panelist was tired of everyone else making fun of him. Or perhaps he just needed to branch out as a panelist on the show’s spinoff, The Masked Dancer. Either way, Jeong, who has had notoriously bad guesses in the past, promises that he’s actually improved this season.

“I go Queen's Gambit on this, guys,” he promised. “I go Queen's Gambit. It's just a whole new look for your boy over here.”

Some next-level twists

The Masked Singer has been known to dole out game-changing twists in the past, but this season there are a few changes that fans will really want to take note of. The biggest of which is an actual format change in which new masked celebrities are introduced as the show progresses.

These “wildcard” performers will grace the stage throughout the season to potentially take the place of a current contestant, entering the race for their own chance to win that coveted Golden Mask Trophy.

“Some of the wildcards have some of the most moving stories,” teased McCarthy-Wahlberg. “So, you'll be surprised when you see it. You might think that they come too late in the game, but they really don't.” So who are these costumed wildcards? Everyone will just have to wait and see, because the costumes and creatures won’t be revealed until later on, after the show has already premiered.

There’s also a new masked personality taking flight

Because wildcard contestants weren’t enough of a twist to keep everyone on their toes, the powers that be also decided to introduce a new masked personality this season to help mess the panelists up.

Cluedle-Doo isn’t a contestant, but an unknown celebrity who will randomly pop in to dole out new clues that the panelists don’t always see. He’ll also interact with the panelists when he crashes the stage to mess with them, so expect a whole other layer of “who is that?” fun.

“He messes with us. So even when we think he's going to give us an amazing clue, sometimes he does, but sometimes he'll steal it or not tell us or turn it around,” McCarthy-Wahlberg said. Or, as Thicke revealed, “A lot of the clues line up, and a lot of them are misdirects.”

So who are the first contestants this season?

All in all, there are 10 masked celebrities making their way to the stage that audiences know of so far, and they will be split into two groups of five. Collectively, the contestants this year have a combined 26 Grammy nominations, nine multi-platinum singles, four Academy Award nominations, three Super Bowl appearances, six Gold Medals, and two World Records.

At time of press, only eight of the season-five costumes had been officially revealed, although People also scored an exclusive first-look at Snail, technically bringing the costume reveals up to eight. And now for a closer look.

Watch a brand new season of The Masked Singer March 10 at 8 pET on CTV.

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