The Masked Dancer is set to feature some “amazing names” according to host Joel Dommett.
The Masked Dancer’s first series starts this Saturday night on ITV and will continue throughout the next week.
The mystery dancing competition sees celebs fight to put on the best dance performance while their identities are kept secret behind elaborate masks.
A spin-off from The Masked Singer, the show is helmed by Joel Dommett together with a panel of Oti Mabuse, Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan.
Ahead of the first episode, Joel teased fans that we’d see some “amazing names” being unmasked.
He said: “I think you will be surprised. The names that are being revealed are so good. It’s been wonderful.
“There are a lot of people out there who would prefer to dance and not sing and this show is perfect for them.There have been some amazing names so far.”
Mo added of the format: “It’s a new show, it’s got some of the same things that you love about the other show BUT it’s a little bit harder. At the same time, you can get up and have a bit of a boogie as opposed to sitting there and trying to really analyse if someone is the singer you think they are… I think the beauty of this version is that anyone can dance.
“There’s no right or wrong way of dancing. With singing you kind of know who is a professional and who isn’t but with dancing you could just learn a couple of steps and be good at it.
“I think that’s what a lot of people will enjoy about this version.”
Meanwhile Joel revealed of new panellist Oti: “Oti has been brilliant, she’s a very keen bean. She’s come in and is very keen to prove herself early doors. Her notebook is full to the brim of names. She’s throwing out more names than Davina and very obscure names as well.
“Oti has the ability to go through the entire Strictly Come Dancing back catalogue and know the dancing style of all the people who have been on the show. She kind of has that knowledge which none of us have so it really genuinely helps, so she’s coming out with some excellent names.”
Oti herself however remarked: “I would be okay at it but I am so terrible at it.Oh my gosh! It’s actually hurting me a little bit because I was like ‘Oh I’ve got this, I probably know them and they’ve all done some show that I work on’, but it’s hard, it’s really, really difficult. I am slowly becoming a baby Jonathan with my suggestions.
The Masked Dancer begins Saturday night on ITV at 7PM.
You can watch episodes online via the ITV Hub.
Picture: ITV/©Bandicoot TV
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