‘The Masked Singer’ Gets British Makeover on ITV

By Henry Chu

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “The Masked Singer” is coming to Britain. , the U.K.’s biggest commercial broadcaster, has ordered up a local version of the wacky competition show, which originated in South Korea and has been a ratings hit for Fox in the U.S.

The format involves celebrities concealing their identities behind bizarre costumes and trying to advance in a singing contest that’s not necessarily about vocal talent. A star panel tries to figure out who the celebrities, while viewers eliminate the contestants one by one. Eight episodes of the show will air on ITV next year.

The British version will be produced by Scottish indie Bandicoot, which is owned by the Argonon Group. It will be executive-produced by Derek McLean, Daniel Nettleton and Claire Horton.

“Not very often, a show comes along that seems to abandon all the rules…and this is it,” said Siobhan Greene, ITV’s head of entertainment commissioning. “‘’ is original, bold, funny and a proper guessing game that we hope will have the nation hooked.”

McLean and Nettleton, who founded Bandicoot, said they were “hugely excited to be part of such a successful global format….With madcap costumes and cunning disguises, we have no doubt the audience will love the outlandish performances and revel in playing the guessing game. It’s less of a whodunit and more of a whosungit.”