‘The Masked Singer’s EP Breaks Down 13 Secrets from Season 2

If you’ve been keeping an eye on all of the tweets and articles about the show, you may think you already know Season 2’s characters. Well you’re wrong. After much deliberation it was decided that The Masked Singer Season 2’s pre-show on September 15 would be the very first time fans would be officially introduced to this season’s new contestants.

“It’s not all out there right now on Fox.com, so you’ll see who some of the names are that haven’t been published yet. And obviously there’s a clue in everything from the names to the characters that were chosen,” Plestis teased.

Fox was very deliberate about which clues to share during the sneak peek special. According to Plestis they decided on a variety of both audio and visual clues. Just know that everything that appears in this upcoming special is important.

“(Clues) are mixed in with each package just like we do with our regular show. If you keep a close eye on it you’ll figure it out what the clue is,” Plestis explained. “Now will you figure out 100 percent who that person is? If you’re smart you can do it. Do some research. So my word here is I challenge America watch it, look at it, figure it out, and get in that debate. Start early before even the premiere.”

When asked what he can tease about the sneak peek show, the executive producer emphasized that every detail matters. “There are clues in everything this season. Just because after the clue package ends doesn’t mean that’s where the clues stop. Look at the outfits. Look at the songs they sing,” Plestis said. “Pay attention to every moment because that will help you determine who that person is underneath the outfit.”

“I don’t think a lot of people know what we do,” Plestis said. That’s going to change in Season 2, which features a great deal of footage explaining how the costumes are made, which ones were custom made, and which parts of each outfit were special requests. “You’ll see what makes each outfit unique and different and what they had to do with craftsman to make it come to life. So I think that’s an incredible eye opener.”

The sneak peek will also feature Season 1’s winner T-Pain talking about his experience on the show. “It breaks format and opens the door of how we do stuff as well drops little clues,” Plestis teased.

We’ve seen celebrities go on The Masked Singer for all sorts of reasons: to reveal a hidden talent, to work through their loss, or to show that they’re not a monster. But this season will feature at least one contestant who will be singing for children. Specifically: their own children.

“There are some people who we have this year who are doing this show because their kids were huge fans of the show and they wanted to do the show. They’re not telling their kids. They’re waiting for that moment when they get unmasked. They’re going to film it behind the TV set so the kids can go crazy,” Plestis explained. “So everyone has a unique reason why they’re doing the show … it’s really refreshing this season.”

By now we know how the costumes on The Masked Singer work. Contestants are given a long list of characters they can choose from. But if any contestant wants a special character that isn’t on that list, they have the option of asking for it to be made. So where does that leave Season 2’s craziest character, Egg?

“Egg was a special request by that particular talent. And we think it was egg-cellent,” Plestis revealed. He also noted that some celebrities have actually asked to take their costumes with them. “A lot of them were like ‘Can I take it home?’ ‘Nope, the costume is going in storage.’ They bonded in an incredible way with these costumes that you just don’t get with a regular show. They become these characters.”

The bottom line for guessing in Season 2? Don’t believe everything you see. Plestis emphasized that viewers should challenge everything from contestants’ voices and musical choices to their heights. “If you think it’s one gender versus another, think again. Are they too tall? Are they actually a shorter person in the costume or visa versa? Is there padding?” Plestis said. “Everything’s game right now because we’re just upping our stakes.”

Between those intricate outfits and complicated musical performances, there have to be more than a couple of bloopers hiding in The Masked Signer’s archives. And this season we may finally see them ourselves.

“You might see that when we get to the end of the run of the season when we do our finale episode, which is a little bit of a look back. You’ll see some of the more comical moments, absolutely,” Plestis said.

Since The Masked Singer is at its core a guessing game it would make sense that the entire series would fall apart if the right name is guessed. But according to Plestis — and a Columbia University professor — that isn’t quite the case. As long as viewers aren’t completely sure who is behind the mask, they’re compelled to keep watching. Last season Washington Post science reporter Anna Rothschild attempted to explain why the show was so addicting. As part of her research she consulted with Columbia’s Dr. Janet Metcalfe, an academic who has researched that “tip of the tongue” feeling associated with memory.

“I always go back to that because for us — and especially for the fans — when they figure it out they don’t know 100 percent. You’ll never know 100 percent until that mask comes off. So there’s always going to be a 1 percent chance that you’re wrong,” Plestis explained. “But when you’re right, you get an endorphin level release. It’s almost like a thrill, like a drug that happens to your brain when you get the right answer”

If you spent your weeknights last spring screaming at the television with your family, that was kind of the point. It was always important to both Plestis and Fox that The Masked Singer be family friendly, much like his other creation, NBC’s America’s Got Talent.

“The art is kind of lost, not just for broadcasters but especially for streamers,” Plestis reflected. But The Masked Singer has proven itself to be a family affair. “We’ve seen this now with the information coming in. Families are watching it together. They’re sitting on the couch debating, yelling at the TV set, yelling at each other. It’s a nice moment because that shows you that broadcast TV can bring families together outside of just sports.”

“I think there were more people doing security for the show than actually making the show. No show I think in the history of television has this much security enforced because that is key to our show,” Plestis revealed.

Contestants are forced to wear black hoods and are transported to and from set via specialty cars so as few people as possible know their identities. The level of secrecy on the show is so intense, it’s led to some funny encounters on Plestis’ part.

According to the executive producer everyone working on the series wears a sweatshirt that either says “Talk to Me” or “Don’t Talk to Me.” This is to tell contestants which members of the crew know their real identities. It’s a foolproof system as long as everyone remembers to wear their specialty sweatshirts around the contestants. “One time I went into a trailer, and I just had a regular jacket on,” Plestis said. “He literally ran into the bathroom and knew very well he had to keep it a secret until I said, ‘It’s OK to come out, it’s Craig.’ So they’re playing the game all the way.”

Even with that in mind, things will get even tighter in season 2. “The stakes got higher for our security team, absolutely,” Plestis noted.

The Masked Singer is one of those rare shows that requires a weekly schedule in order to work. Not only is that week-by-week release responsible for making the series’ central game work. It’s also encouraged fans to rewatch episodes.

“We’ve seen it from Fox.com, Hulu, and the DVR-ing of it, just the growth potential. People are going back and watching it again to uncover the clues because they want to figure out the mystery as much as our panel does,” Plestis said.

Though the team tries to make it as easy as possible for contestants to see out of their costumes, there are still logistical problems that arise. “People bump into each other. They almost fall off the stage. I mean this year Nick [Cannon] had to rescue a couple characters right before they fell over,” Plestis added. “It’s comical in one way, and it’s still a growth area for us in how to get better at making costumes. But at the same time these celebrities are pushing themselves.”

The Masked Singer premieres on Fox, September 25 at 8/7c following a special sneak peek special on September 15.

Where to stream The Masked Singer