How Does ‘The Masked Singer’ Work? How The Celebrities Stayed Secret

The first season of Fox’s new celebrity singing series, “The Masked Singer,” comes to an end Wednesday with its two-hour finale, but there are still a few questions viewers have about the show.

Mainly, how did the show work? How did the famous identities of the contestants not get leaked, and how did even the judges and host Nick Cannon not find out who they were?

The broad answer is: A lot of planning and security protocols.

The more specific answer begins with the show making sure the celebrities remained in their masks and costumes whenever they were on location, whether cameras were rolling or not. The contenders also always disguised their voices when they spoke.

After giving out clues and showing performances, the end of each episode of “The Masked Singer” featured celebrities revealing their famous faces to the previously-in-the-dark audience, host, judges and crew members. With so many people involved in the making of the singing series, there were a lot of non-disclosure agreements that had to be signed and very thorough security measures to take.

The protocols didn’t just start once celebrities arrived for filming; they began before they even left their homes.

“All the stars, before they even left their house, they had to meet at another location. They dressed in cloaks and masks,” executive producer Craig Plestis told The Hollywood Reporter. “We had drivers who had no idea who they were. Everyone was under a different alias, and when they pulled up on the lots, everyone had to wear these cloaks and wear these masks. They were sequestered into a private area that was guarded by security guards.”

Even managers and agents had to wear cloaks and masks if they came with their talent. These measures helped ensure that only seven people involved in the production knew of the celebrities participating on “The Masked Singer.”

When the show airs its two-hour Season 1 finale Wednesday on Fox at 8 p.m. EST, everyone will officially know the identities of all of the celebrity contestants on “The Masked Singer.”