Fox’s The Masked Singer returns for a landmark 10th season tonight, Sunday, September 10, and executive producer Craig Plestis has big plans for this go-round.
“First of all, we’re just honored that America has kept watching us for 10 seasons. That’s a surprise itself in today’s marketplace,” Plestis told Deadline in a new interview. “Since we’ve had lightning in a bottle since Season 1, for us, it’s just the idea of reinventing it, getting bigger names, and just making sure that we keep the fun within the show. For Season 10, this was the opportunity for how we can make it bigger, better, and also bring back so many past people.”
That includes former contestants Bow Wow (Frog), Rumer Willis (Lion), Joey Fatone (Rabbit), Victor Oladipo (Thingamajig), Michelle Williams (Butterfly), and Barry Zito (Rhino), who will return to the Masked Singer stage for tonight’s special “kickoff episode,” which airs at 8/7c or whenever the NFL double header is done.
The kickoff will also feature a “special celebrity performance and reveal,” as FOX previously teased.
“It was our anniversary season here to do something like this, to have a megastar come out and perform as a kickoff for us to start the guessing game and also bring back several combinations of past contestants to not only honor them but to show America who we had on our show in the past and just remember those smiles that they brought to us,” Plestis explained.
Season 10 will also feature themed episodes — themes that include Harry Potter, Trolls, and Elton John — as well as the return of competing contestant groups and the “Ding Dong Keep It On” bell.
“I think that what we’re doing for Season 10 is we’re looking back at the past nine seasons,” Plestis said. “What we did was cherry pick the best of everything about it, between formats and what we’ve learned throughout the whole show. It just made a super great season like we’ve never done before. “
Sixteen contestants will vie for the Season 10 crown when the competition begins in earnest on Wednesday, September 27, at 9/8c, with those mystery celebs disguised by costumes including Donut, Anteater, and S’more, as well as “the largest, tallest costume ever built in the history of The Masked Singer,” Plestis said.
“We’ve upgraded,” the EP added. “We’ve learned from our past seasons doing themes to just make them bigger and better. … So we’re cherry picking the best parts of all the formats we’ve ever tried out to make it a super mega fantastic format.”
The Masked Singer Season 10 Special Kickoff Episode, Sunday, September 10, 8/7c