Dita Von Teese has shared all on her time on The Masked Dancer.
The Masked Dancer continued on Monday night as Knickerbocker Glory, Llama, Scarecrow, Beetroot and Zip were all welcomed back to the dancefloor.
After each had delivered their routines, it was Knickerbocker Glory and Beetroot who found themselves in a dance off.
With Knickerbocker Glory winning, it was time for Beetroot to beat it but not before removing her mask to reveal the Queen of Burlesque, Dita Von Teese.
Speaking about signing up for the show, Dita shared: “I thought it would be fun to do something unexpected and out of character for me… I’ve never done anything like this, and I’m not a competitive person, but I knew it would be hilarious. I also knew people wouldn’t expect me to be under the mask.”
She continued: “I have friends who work on the US version of The Masked Singer. Before I was approached to do The Masked Dancer in the UK, I had dinner with my friend Gregory Arlt… he does makeup on Masked Singer in the States. He was telling me about how comical it is as the cast and crew are all trying to figure out who’s who.
“I can’t wait until he finds out I did it. One night recently, he and I had dinner. I wanted to share a beet salad but he loathes beets so it was a no-go. Hopefully I can borrow the costume sometime to torment him. I have a few friends who hate beets! Me, I LOVE them. How glorious to get to eat such a beautifully hued-food!
“I was also nervous about taking on The Masked Dancer because my dance experience is limited to ballet, and social dances from the 1930s and 40s, and, of course, striptease. I never expected to go far in the competition but I knew it would be difficult for them to guess me and I knew I’d be unique.”
Dita said it wasn’t easy keeping the show a secret during filming.
She explained: “I’d get quizzed a lot, especially since I was in London for a month at a time when it was really difficult to travel and some people don’t let up on trying to figure it out. Most of the people around me guessed I was on a top secret Drag Race episode or occasionally they’d guess Masked Singer so of course I would say, ‘… I would NEVER!’, which IS totally true.
“Singing live is my worst nightmare. And I’d diffuse the third degree further by telling them ‘listen, it’ll be funnier if you don’t know until it airs on TV.’ I’m hoping to host a screening for my LA friends so they can point and laugh at the Beetroot struggling in the group dance numbers and losing the dance off to Knickerbocker Glory.
“We Americans don’t even know what a Knickerbocker Glory is! Maybe I’ll host my own masked dancer/singer contest as a party. I love a theme party, especially ones with performances involved.”
Dita went on to say: “[Filming] It was truly top secret. This was one of my favourite parts of being on the show. I loved wearing the disguise… the DON’T TALK TO ME sweatshirt, the blackout visor and trainers. I also enjoyed not having to put on my glam every day, I kind of enjoyed being makeup-free under the disguise.
“But it was torture not knowing who the others were. And it was hard not to be able to talk while on set. I really wanted to be able to chat with the dancing carrots and onions supporting me through the dance number…”
Meanwhile Dita said she wasn’t too surprised that none of the panel managed to correctly guess her identity.
“I felt fairly confident that they wouldn’t guess me as it was during the pandemic and complicated to travel from the US to London,” she said. “I guess I’m also a fairly private person too; I’ve never done a TV show like this so I don’t even think I was on anyone’s radar to be guessed on a TV show like this.
“I thought they were getting warmer by guessing I was a Pussycat Doll since I did perform with them when they were only a dance group in the early 2000s.
“I thought Jonathan Ross would have guessed me since I was on his show before. But Oti Mabuse was the one person I thought was on the right track, almost guessing me. Ultimately, she said she wrote my name down and then scratched it out.”
Dita concluded of her time on the show: “I always knew I wasn’t going to be the one doing backflips across the stage, or doing the pumped-up, crowd pleaser type songs… I was honestly just happy to be included. I was kind of relieved to go home, I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to keep up!”
The Masked Dancer on ITV and the ITV Hub continues at 7:30PM on Tuesday with Rubber Chicken, Frog, Beagle, Carwash and Squirrel.
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