The Masked Singer took the country by storm when Season 1 debuted in early January, and fans were so enthralled by the celebrity singing competition that Fox made sure to ready a second season for the fall, which hit the air just a few weeks ago. People are still taken by the show, which finds famous folks hide their identities in some of the most elaborate costumes ever created for reality TV, offer up clues and perform well-known songs to see if a panel of judges (and the audience) can guess who they really are. Those who enjoy the uber-popular series have been wondering whether or not the masked singers get to keep their costumes once they're revealed, and now we have our answer.
Jenny McCarthy, who serves on The Masked Singer judges panel along with Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke, was recently posed that very question on Twitter, and decided to put an end to our queries once and for all:
Awww, man! You mean to tell me that seven time Grammy Award winner Gladys Knight isn't currently able to lounge around her manse in her Bee costume from Season 1 of The Masked Singer? I am offended for her, sirs and madams. The unmitigated gall of it all!
Alright, I know we all had the greatest hopes that contestants on The Masked Singer were able to keep their costumes once they were kicked off or won the show. But, let's bee (See what I did there?) real about this for a minute. It's not like the wardrobe department on the reality competition just has some interns head over to Party City for their costuming options. These outfits are beyond anything most of us could come up with in real life and designed specifically to hide pretty much every identifying feature of the celebrity contestant inside.
This means that everyone who signs up for The Masked Singer will be covered from head to toe when they perform, as well as before and after each taping, so that no one can begin to put together the pieces from the clues and compare them to what they see of the actual people who are trapped in those amazing getups during filming. Also, the costumes are made to reflect the performer's personality or their professional journey in some way, and are made just for them.
And, while the surreal, frequently beautiful costumes (which are designed by four time Emmy winning costume designer Marina Toybina, who was nominated for her work on Season 1) have been said to be pretty uncomfortable to wear, they are made with mobility in mind so that the singers can actually move around (probably not with much ease, but still) as they perform. One interview with Toybina from The Cut even revealed that the Monster and Pineapple costumes had working fans in them so as to make sure constants were cool enough and also had enough air.
Can you see where I'm going with all of this? These costumes are very well thought out, manufactured to a tee and probably more expensive than the house you live in. Ain't no way the producers of The Masked Singer are letting a bunch of random celebrities run off with these stunning creations!
So, while it is a bit of a pity that we'll never see figure skater Johnny Weir don his partial Egg costume on the ice, I think we can all now understand why these extravagant items are likely kept under lock and key when not in use.
You can check out all of the remaining Season 2 costumes / performers in action when The Masked Singer continues on Fox, Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST. For the rest of what you can see on the small screen this season be sure to bookmark our 2019 fall TV premiere guide!
