When is The Masked Singer on TV? Judges, host and celebrity theories

But be prepared to see your eyebrows raise into your hairline with The Masked Singer, which is one-part Stars in Their Eyes and three-parts Black Mirror – and huge in the States.

Twelve celebrities will mask up in… interesting disguises (think more Monsters Inc. than Phantom of the Opera) and belt out tunes in a bid to impress our judges and the audience, who have no idea who will be performing.

Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming show…

When is The Masked Singer on TV?

It's one of the most highly anticipated shows of 2020, and now, we finally have a launch date.

The Masked Singer launched with a double-bill weekend, with six of our 12 singers performing on Saturday 4th January and the remaining six performing Sunday 5th January at 8pm on ITV. The shows will be before The Voice on Saturday and after Dancing on Ice on Sunday .

Who are the judges on The Masked Singer?

With the show being so successful in the States, The Masked Singer is bringing out the big guns to attract a UK audience with an impressive panel.

Unlike singing shows such as the X Factor, the judges don’t actually rate our performers in terms of singing talent but overall performance ability – and be able to take a reasonable stab at who could be behind the mask.

Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Ken Jeong and Rita Ora will all be the detectives in charge of finding out which celebrity is in which costume.

Joel Dommett will act as the show's host.

“I’m incredibly excited and proud to be hosting The Masked Singer for ITV,” he said. “I’ve been a huge fan of the show in the US and being a part of it here is a dream come true! The panel is brilliant and it’s an incredible idea - I think the UK is going to love it. In all seriousness this is my best chance to become friends with Jonathan Ross and I’m not going to mess it up.”

So what exactly is the Masked Singer about?

It really is as weird as it looks.

Based on a South Korean format, King of Mask Singer, The Masked Singer will see 12 famous faces taking to the stage to sing – only, we won't know who is singing. So far, so The Voice.

What makes the show so unique, shall we say, is guises our celebs take to mask their identity. This really is the only show on television where Donny Osmond, disguised as a peacock, could take on T-Pain dressed as a monster (which in itself looks like an illegitimate Monsters Inc. love child).

Is there a trailer?

Yes, we have our first look at the UK version:

Which celebrities are taking part?

As of yet, only one celebrity has been unveiled. We found out on the first episode that "Butterfly" was none other than EastEnder Patsy Palmer – check back here for more updates.

The global popularity of The Masked Singer has attracted genuine A-listers taking part – Donny Osmond, Gladys Knight and T-Pain all starred in the American version, while Ryan Reynolds made an appearance in the Korean edition – so expect big names dressed up as Unicorn, Fox, Monster, Chameleon, Daisy, Octopus, Duck and Queen Bee.

What are the costumes in The Masked Singer?

Yes, there really are celebrities hiding inside those massive and elaborate costumes.

The 12 contenders are as follows:

Butterfly - Patsy Palmer

Chameleon

Duck

Daisy

Fox

Hedgehog

Monster

Octopus

Pharaoh

Queen Bee

Tree

Unicorn

What are the best Masked Singer theories?

Keep checking back at RadioTimes.com as we try and puzzle our way through the series with the best theories...