‘The Masked Singer’ Season 2 To Feature ‘A New Batch’ Of Masked Characters & Increased Celebrity Security

The Masked Singer celebrities’ identities will not be easier to solve when the surprise hit show returns for Season 2. The wild Fox singing competition may have offered up some no-brainers this season—the identity of the still unmasked Peacock was seemingly spoiled by his famous sister during a TV interview—but security will be ramped up next season in an effort to keep the stars a bigger secret.

In an interview on the Best of Shows podcast, The Masked Singer executive producer Craig Plestis teased “a whole new batch of characters” next season and every season after should the hit show continue to get renewed. The EP explained that the show will always feel “fresh and different” with never-before-seen masks, but he promised that some of the beloved older characters could make a return for nostalgia’s sake and not to compete.

“You also might see some of the older characters come back, but not in a competition way,” Plestis said. “You never want to say completely goodbye to the Hippo,” he added.

While the show already goes to great lengths to keep the masked singers a surprise, Plestis warned, “We’re going to have to do double duty in season 2 to keep [the singers] secret.” He added that he “loses sleep” trying to think about how he will keep the new season of The Masked Singer a secret now that the show is on viewers’ radar.

During Fox’s Television Critics Association panel, Plestis previously teased that security for The Masked Singer security will have to be increased ” a lot” now that the show has become a social media sensation.

According to Deadline, The Masked Singer producer joked that he contacted the Pentagon for security advice. He also dished that for the first season of the show, which was shot last summer, all of the audience members had to sign non-disclosure agreements. Smartphones were also confiscated during the tapings of the show and the masked celebs wore shirts instructing staffers not to talk to them when they walked the halls. In the end, only a few people at Fox actually knew who the secret celebrity singers were before they were unmasked.

The Masked Singer is based on a South Korean reality TV format as it features celebrities facing off against one another while dressed in elaborate costumes. Nick Cannon hosts the U.S. version of The Masked Singer while Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke serve as judges.

So far, Antonio Brown, Terry Bradshaw, Tommy Chong, Margaret Cho, Tori Spelling, and Ricki Lake have all been unmasked on The Masked Singer.

The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox.