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'The Masked Singer' to Introduce New Twist for Season 5

'The Masked Singer' to Introduce New Twist for Season 5

The Masked Singer is introducing a new twist for season 5.

Fox's celebrity singing competition show will add wild card rounds in the upcoming season, with new masked celebrities introduced during the run of show, it was announced Tuesday. 

Another slight tweak is that season 5 contestants will be competing in two groups of five (Groups A and B). The "wild card" contestants have the chance to crash the party and take the stage at the end of the episodes for a chance to unseat another contestant in the group and join the race for the Masked Singer trophy.

Niecy Nash takes over for Nick Cannon as guest host of The Masked Singer for a handful of episodes after he tested positive for COVID-19. Celeb panelists Robin Thicke, Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy also return.

The new season will feature celebrities who have 26 GRAMMY nominations, nine multi-platinum singles, four Oscar nominations, three Super Bowl appearances, six gold medals and two world records among them. 

Costumes revealed by the show's first promo, which was released earlier this month, include Grandpa Monster and The Chameleon.

LeAnn Rimes, who spent all of last season as The Sun, spoke to ET's Nischelle Turner last year about being crowned the newest Masked Singer winner.

"There was so much thought that went into the costume and the song choices, it was a lot of work," Rimes said. "I really had a very specific story that I wanted to tell and The Sun was like this very visual representation of everything I'm putting out in the world right now with my own music."

For Rimes, trying to push boundaries and subvert expectations was a constant challenge in her career and on the show.

"I started out with Blue, and very, very, deep country, and you know, then crossed over. And I kind of got my hand slapped for that," she recalled. "The lines weren't as blurred as they are now and that wasn't invited."

"I've kind of fought that for a long time of people not knowing where to put me and they want to put me in a box and the more people want to do that, the more I want to claw my way out of it," she continued. "It's just my rebellious side."

The Masked Singer premieres Wednesday, March 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox. For more, watch below.

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