‘The Masked Singer’ Season 14 Teases a Possible Nicole Scherzinger Twist — and 4 More Takeaways From Set
The premise of The Masked Singer is so wild that it really shouldn’t work. Originating in South Korea, the reality competition series sees famous personalities from all different fields — music and acting, but also sports and even politics — donning intricate, stunningly designed costumes and singing to a panel. These judges try to guess who is behind each mask, voting alongside the audience for their favorite performances. The least popular is eliminated each week, revealing their identity before they go. To make things even more interesting, there are clues about who the celebrities are built into their costumes and staging.
“We just jumped right back to it,” Nick Cannon, the host of The Masked Singer since its premiere in 2019, tells me on the elaborate FOX soundstage before a taping in early November. The show usually airs two seasons a year — one in the spring, the other in the fall — though it skipped its second installment in 2025. Cannon, however, assures me the longer hiatus didn’t break anyone’s rhythm. “We didn’t miss a beat.”
The show is a well-oiled machine at this point. Three of its panelists — Jenny McCarthy, Robin Thicke, and Ken Jeong — have been serving as panelists since its inception, with Rita Ora taking over for Nicole Scherzinger after her departure in 2023. The transition, she says, was seamless. “They just made me feel so at home,” Ora muses. “Even from my first season, everyone guided me, and the sky was the limit. There were no rules, and that’s kind of where I live. I thrive when there’s a world where I can be free, and that’s what this show’s about.”
“She’s a free spirit,” Cannon agrees. “The show is a free spirit, so she fits right in all the zaniness and fun that we have here. She’s a comedian. I’ll be cracking up every episode.”
At that, Ora smirks. “I should do stand-up.” There’s a beat as she reconsiders. “I’ll start with a podcast. Will you be my first guest?”
Cannon nods. “Absolutely,” he says. “I owe you, like, 20 favors.”
‘The Masked Singer’ Season 14 Is Bigger and More Beautiful Than Ever
“That’s the heart and soul of the show.”
It’s difficult to describe what it’s like to step onto The Masked Singer set for the first time. Oz, maybe, or Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. From the sleek, circular black stage to screens with trippy projections, giant practical props to hundreds of spotlights, the scale is massive and immersive, instantly transporting you to a whole new world.
Even after 14 seasons, McCarthy says seeing it never gets old. “The creative directors make this always feel like it’s a Grammy Award-winning show. They go above and beyond to make it feel like it’s got that level of greatness.”
Though the show hasn’t won a Grammy (yet), it has earned a bevy of other accolades, including an Art Directors Guild Award nomination, a win at the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards, and even a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Competition Program. It also snagged a Costume Designers Guild Award and two Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for its costumes, which have to look stunning, be mobile enough to move and sing in, and give viewers subtle clues about who could be wearing it.
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This recognition is well deserved, according to the panelists. They are equally in awe of the massive feat they accomplish every episode. “I don’t know how they keep coming up with these ideas,” Ora gushes, while Thicke notes how crucial they are in maintaining the spirit of the competition. “Sometimes, the costumes give you no sense of their body type,” he says, “so you’re only going off the voice.”
“At the end of the day, these costumes and the contestants, that’s the heart and soul of the show,” Jeong adds. “I feel like we’re maitre d’s at this amazing restaurant — ‘Come in and enjoy. Here’s some flavors, what would you like?’”
After getting the chance to see a few of the costumes on display, I have to agree. From a pink snowcone-inspired look that feels straight out of a Lisa Frank sticker book to a giant, furry, five-eyed red monster with purple tentacles, it’s the best kind of fever dream that’s somehow even more impressive up close.
Who Will Be Revealed on ‘The Masked Singer’ Season 14?
“I couldn’t believe the people they were unmasking.”
It’s hard to keep any concept fresh after 14 seasons, but Cannon promises that this year is the best yet, kicking things off with a bang. “It was different from normal,” he teases of the season opener, which airs on FOX on Wednesday, January 7th. “It was just such a big episode, a big premiere. There were a lot of reveals. A lot happened, shall we say.”
“The names — the people under the mask — are just so much bigger every year,” Ora agrees. “I know we say that every year, but this time around, I couldn’t believe the people they were unmasking.”
That is a big claim, indeed, considering the show has featured everyone from Grammy winner Patti LaBelle and pop star Demi Lovato to tennis icon Billie Jean King and Teyana Taylor, who’s a favorite to win Best Supporting Actress for her role in One Battle After Another this year.
Cannon says the element of surprise is his favorite aspect of the series. “It’s getting cooler, even in the sense that it’s almost become talent discovery sometimes. Sometimes, they take off that mask, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I love that person,’ or ‘Oh, I saw that person on TikTok.’ The same thing with all of the athletes. There are tons of athletes who you didn’t know have beautiful voices, and you find that out, and you discover that on a massive scale.”
The best person at guessing the sports personalities might just surprise you. “Ken knows all the athletes, that’s for sure,” Thicke says. “He’s, like, 90% on guessing athletes.”
“I’m surprisingly good,” Jeong agrees, recalling Victor Oladipo’s performance as Thingamajig in Season 2. “I’m a huge NBA fan, and his voice sounded like Victor’s. I happened to be at an NBA award show years ago, and he was singing, and so, for the first time, I had Robin’s ear. I had some superpowers there.” Thicke maintains that his most memorable athlete was NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski (aka Gronk) as White Tiger in Season 3.
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While Jeong has a knack for guessing athletes, he is also known for his off-the-wall guesses, like when everyone but him knew Gladys Knight was behind the Bee costume in Season 1. When can we expect his first crazy guess this season? “I think Episode 1,” he admits with a laugh. “It starts pretty early.”
Thicke says the panelists usually all start to get a bit closer to the truth the third or fourth time they hear them sing, while Cannon brags that he usually has a good idea earlier. “I feel like I figure it out a little bit sooner than they figure it out.” At that, Ora scoffs. “He’s met a lot of people, and he’s a little older than me,” she quips, showcasing the natural chemistry and playful banter that elevate the show beyond its exceptional performances.
Cannon recognizes he does have a bit of an unfair advantage as the host rather than a judge. “I’m also in proximity. I’m closer to the act, so I get to hear their real voices. And if it is somebody I know, [I can tell] based on the energy.” He might not be the only one with friends on this show this time around. “There are a couple of people that I think I already know, personally, in this season,” Ora teases.
The panelists all have their own strategies for guessing who is behind the mask. McCarthy and Jeong both look for visual tells baked into the outfits and set design. “I’m what I would call a clue connoisseur,” McCarthy says. “I’m very good at picking up on them.” Jeong muses that the smallest, most innocuous things can lead to big epiphanies. “There are some Easter eggs. It could be something subtle — it could be a number, it could be some sort of abbreviation — and it’s not mentioned in the clue package. You really have to watch that person and pay attention to these outfits.”
Ora, on the other hand, relies on her extensive musical background to assist. “Everyone says Robin’s got this golden ear, which he does, but because I also come from a music and film background, I like to hear their techniques,” she reveals. “Breathing, the sort of runs that they do, the specific ad-libs. Some people do the same things, and you just know it from the get-go.
“To that point, you know who does this for a living and who’s just kind of up there,” Cannon adds. “Because you can see the nerves in someone who doesn’t normally sing, and as she said, the breath control or their projection — even through a mask — you can tell, ‘Okay, that’s a professional right there,’ or somebody who’s a little more nervous, who, bless their heart, they’re here performing, and we’ve got to support them.”
Is Nicole Scherzinger Returning to ‘The Masked Singer’?
“She would definitely have the ability to fool us.”
Fans embraced Ora just as warmly as her fellow panelists, but they’ve also been vocal about wanting Scherzinger to return in whatever capacity possible — a sentiment Ora herself shares. “She is always welcome,” says the British pop star. “I’d literally share my seat with her. I love her. Come on down — we can do a lovely special.” (She’s even coined a nickname for the two of them: Nicita.)
“Since Nicole’s departure, she’s just ascended,” Cannon says. (Scherzinger recently won both an Olivier and Tony Award for playing Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard on the West End and Broadway.) “She’s just been doing bigger and better things, so we’ve been waiting. She’s going to be under this mask at one point. It has to happen.”
Could that time be now? Some fans certainly think so, speculating that she could be behind the scarab beetle. Though viewers will have to wait to see how the season shakes out to be sure, I asked the panelists how difficult it would be to pick Scherzinger out.
“I think I know her voice,” Ora says. “I’m a big fan of her work, especially in the theater. I saw her show, and I love her music, so I feel like I’d get it.” Still, she notes her experience in the judge’s chair would give her a leg up. “But because she’s been on the other side, she’s gonna be really good at tricking.” Thicke agrees. “She would definitely have the ability to fool us. If she sang as Nicole with her voice, maybe we would recognize it, but she’s a chameleon.”
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McCarthy echoes this sentiment. “Knowing Nicole, I wouldn’t be surprised if she disguised her voice, because Nicole is the master of disguised voices. She can imitate. If anyone were ever to be the GOAT contestant on masking their voice, it would be Nicole. Even I probably wouldn’t be onto her. She can sound like Britney. If Britney Spears were standing next to Nicole Scherzinger, and everyone had closed their eyes, you would say Nicole was Britney. It’s unbelievable how good a Britney she does.” The Princess of Pop isn’t the only spot-on impression she can do. McCarthy adds that she does a killer Celine Dion, too, and Jeong raves over her ability to impersonate Journey’s Steve Perry. “It’s crazy, her range,” he notes.
Still, Thicke suspects he could potentially suss her out purely due to the way she carries herself. “I might be able to know by her body language,” he predicts. “I know her moves.”
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“Getting paid to be with friends is an amazing thing.”
Thicke’s confidence in recognizing Scherzinger’s mannerisms makes sense, considering they spent long hours together for several years. The crew has become tight-knit, which Jeong says makes all the difference. “To get paid to have fun is an incredible gift right now. I get to hang out with some of the best voices in the world. I’m in the gratitude phase of my career, so just doing what I’m doing right now for a living, I feel so blessed, and I’m just so present in every moment. You can’t get any better than this — in our 14th season with friends, with family. Getting paid to be with friends is an amazing thing.”
“It is a blessing,” Thicke concurs, “and I think you start to appreciate it and enjoy it more as seasons go. You realize how rare it is. Hits in this business are hard to come by, and then working with people you love and can’t wait to see again, that’s hard to come by, too, so we’re very lucky.
Jeong also says the show is just as fun to film as it is to watch and that the sense of lighthearted playfulness is something we could all use a little more of. “There’s a lot of precision involved with acting and getting things right, and what I love about the show is that I’ve kind of mastered the art of getting things wrong and having fun with it. I think that’s the side that people don’t know about me — even when there’s game night where I’m with my friends and family…I’m not super competitive about getting things right. I just like to have fun.”
The Masked Singer airs Wednesday nights on FOX.
