The Masked Singer just might be the closest reality TV will get to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, and it’s getting ready to open its doors for 2022. The new season is set to be unmasked on Sunday, August 7 at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play.
Mediaweek spoke to EP Tamara Simoneau about bringing TV’s most colourful show to life.
Tamara Simoneau
At the heart of the show is the guessing panel, who have the job of trying to look past the masks and nail down the voices that are coming out of them. This year there has been a shake up on the panel, with Dave Hughes the only one staying on from last year.
“Hughesy appointed himself team captain, but he might have a mutiny on his hands because his new fellow panellists are that good and that invested in getting it right!” says Simoneau.
As for the three new guessers making their debut, Simoneau says they all bring different strengths to the team.
“Chrissie was a pretty easy choice because, well, she’s Chrissie Swan and we adore her. She’s the show’s number one couch fan along with her daughterr. It was an easy switch for her to shake off the slippers, put on some sequins, and come join us in the studio.
“Mel B has been behind the mask twice in overseas versions of the show. So she was really, really keen to have a go on the panel and see it from the other side.
“Abbie Chatfield is just an absolute natural born TV star, and such a super sleuth. She’s such a powerhouse on socials – I think her superpower is the socials and how she works them to figure out who’s behind the masks.”
Pictured left to right: Chrissie Swan, Abbie Chatfield, Mel B and Dave Hughes
Upping the ante in a show as over the top as The Masked Singer is no easy task, but Simoneau says that there are a few factors that will bring this season to the next level.
“The big thing is obviously the masks: what they will be and what they’ll sound like. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. There’s a sweet zombie – what even is a sweet zombie? – a thong, and a blowfly. That says it all, really!”
As well as what’s happening on the stage, what’s happening off it is just as important.
“The judges almost bring a premiere season energy to it, because it’s their premiere season. That’s hugely lifted by the fact that we’ve got our in studio audience back, which feels so special this time around.”
The studio audience has been welcomed back to the set this season after two years of navigating Covid restrictions, which Simoneau says makes a major difference to the atmosphere of the show.
“It’s absolutely huge for Osher [Günsberg], it’s huge for the panellists, it just makes such a difference. It feels like a stadium spectacular when you’re in the room, and we really want that to leap out through the screen into the living room.”
Osher Günsberg
The security protocols involved in keeping the identities of The Masked Singer secret are nothing short of extraordinary, and Simoneau says that communicating can get interesting when there are only a handful of people who know the names of the singers.
“The secrecy around it is next level, to the point where we talk to each other in code.
“We talk about the people in masks, and if anyone goes to say a name in a wider group, there’s this look that makes you remember ‘Oh, hold on!’
“They’re synonymous with their mask now though, that’s how we know them.”
When asked what exactly it is about the show that has makes it such a successful format in every corner of the globe, Simoneau says that it appeals to something different for each member of the family.
“It’s a family friendly show. After dinner, families will often go off and watch different shows on different devices in different rooms. Then there are these sorts of shows where it’s an appointment – we all get together and watch this together.
“Your eight year old can have just as much fun watching it as your Granny.”
Ahead of the new season launching, Simoneau says that she can’t wait for the show that the team have worked so hard on to go out for everyone to see.
“We’re so excited about the celebrities inside the masks. There’s someone who’s sold over 50 million albums, there are multiple gold medalists and multiple Logie winners. It feels like there are some really big surprises coming for the audiences, and we’re busting at the seams to get the show out there.”
The Masked Singer: Sunday, August 7 at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play