'The Masked Singer' to Get U.K. Version on ITV

The format that has been a ratings hit in South Korea and in the U.S. where it airs on Fox.


U.K. TV giant ITV has ordered a British version of The Masked Singer, a format that has been a ratings hit in South Korea and in the U.S. where it airs on Fox.


Scottish independent production firm Bandicoot, which is part of Argonon Group, will produce the U.K. take on the celebrity singing competition.


ITV said it will air the eight-episode show in 2020. In the U.S., The Masked Singer launched to a consolidated audience of 17.6 million, making it Fox’s most-watched unscripted debut in 11 years and the most-watched unscripted debut on any network in seven years, ITV highlighted.


Now ITV and Bandicoot are bringing this utterly bonkers and brilliantly noisy phenomenon to British viewers, for an eight-part series airing across consecutive nights in 2020.


"Part guessing game and part singing show, this spectacular series will see 12 famous faces compete to pull off the best performance, with their identity elaborately and imaginatively concealed, thanks to an expert team of talented costume designers," ITV said. "The stars will be transformed and they will take on a masked identity and become a fantastic character, which will disguise them for the whole series."


A star panel will lead viewers in their quest to discover who the masked singers are. "Although the stars aren’t judged on their voices, they’ll still need to give their best performance – the audience’s least favorite will be eliminated, before the panel try to guess their identity and unmask them," ITV said.


Said Siobhan Greene, ITV’s head of entertainment commissioning: “Not very often, a show comes along that seems to abandon all the rules ... and this is it. The Masked Singer is original, bold, funny and a proper guessing game, that we hope will have the nation hooked. We all loved it from the moment we saw it and are so excited to be bringing it to a UK audience.”