''The Masked Dancer'' is a British reality dancing competition television series that premiered on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 29 May 2021. It is based on the American television series of the same name. In December 2021, the show was recommissioned for a second series which premiered in September 2022.

Production

On 4 March 2021, it was announced that

were producing a local version of the American television dancing competition '' The Masked Dancer'' following the success of its sister show ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. The show is produced by the British television production company

Bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...

, part of the Argonon Group, the same company who produced ''The Masked Singer''. The series was commissioned as a replacement in the spring schedule for ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'', which had its upcoming fifteenth series postponed until 2022 due to health and safety concerns surrounding the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The show premiered on 29 May 2021, consisting of 12 contestants competing through seven episodes, which were broadcast across eight nights throughout the following week. In December 2021, ITV commissioned a second series of eight episodes, which premiered on 3 September 2022. The second series was broadcast in weekly instalments.

Cast

Panellists and host

Following the announcement of the series, it was confirmed by

that the panel would consist of presenter and comedian

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

, television presenter

Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She was the presenter of the reality show ''Big Brother (UK), Big Brother'' during its run on Channel 4 between 2000 and 2010. She also hosted Channel 4's '' ...

, and comedian

Mo Gilligan Mosiah Bikila Gilligan (born 19 February 1988) is a British stand-up comedian. He is known for his observational comedy. After several years of uploading comedy clips to social media, he found global success in 2017. He hosted '' The Lateish Sho ...

, who are all panellists on ''

'', along with ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' professional

Oti Mabuse Otlile "Oti" Mabuse (born 8 August 1990) is a South African talent show judge, presenter, dancer and Latin dance champion currently based in the United Kingdom. She is best known for being a professional dancer on the British television series ' ...

. It was also confirmed that

Joel Dommett Joel Patrick Dommett (born 8 June 1985) is an English actor, author, comedian, and television presenter. He is known for his television roles in '' Live in Chelsea'', ''Impractical Jokers UK'', '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!,'' ''Joel ...

would host the show. Guest panellists in the first series included

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little B ...

in the fifth episode,

John Bishop John Marcus Bishop (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and former footballer. Bishop formerly played football as a midfielder for Winsford United F.C., Crewe Alexandra F.C., Runcorn F.C., Rhyl F.C., Witton Al ...

in the sixth episode, and

Holly Willoughby Holly Marie Willoughby ( ; born 10 February 1981) is an English television presenter, author and model. She is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2009–present) and '' Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2011, 2018–present) alongsid ...

in the seventh episode. On 3 May 2022, it was announced that footballer

Peter Crouch Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...

would join the panel for the second series, with Ross, McCall, and Mabuse all returning. Series one panellist Gilligan was unable to return due to touring commitments, but served as a guest panelist on the sixth show. John Bishop returned as a guest panelist on the seventh show and sat in on the final for Ross, who was absent.

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show ''French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunde ...

was also a guest on the panel for the final.

Series overview

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Masked Dancer, The 2021 British television series debuts 2020s British reality television series 2020s British game shows English-language television shows ITV (TV network) original programming British television series based on American television series