Fox is not halting or delaying production on Season 6 of its smash-hit singing competition “The Masked Singer” following 12 positive COVID-19 cases being discovered on the Los Angeles-based set.
During filming on the sixth season, which began at the end of June and is set to wrap next Wednesday, a dozen people on set have been diagnosed with COVID, with the cases said to be as a result of community exposure, meaning contracted outside of the workplace, an individual with knowledge tells TheWrap.
Los Angeles County, which visits six local TV sets per day, conducted a visit to “The Masked Singer” set on Friday and noted that the Fox singing competition had one of the safest production setups that they’ve seen amid the pandemic.
“The safety of the entire cast and crew has been and will continue to be our number one priority,” a Fox spokesperson said in a statement to TheWrap Tuesday. “We work closely with local and state officials and the unions to ensure we have the safest environment possible.”
Season 6 marks the first time that “The Masked Singer” has had a limited-capacity in-studio audience since Season 3, with Seasons 4 and 5 — which were produced after the coronavirus pandemic had begun to spread — featuring an at-home virtual audience and a very small number of in-person attendees per show.
“The Masked Singer” will kick off Season 6 on Wednesday, Sept. 22 and air the second half of its supersized debut the following night, Thursday, Sept. 23. On both evenings, the smash-hit competition will be set in the 8 o’clock hour and followed by freshman singing contest “Alter Ego,” which is also getting a two-night debut.
Host Nick Cannon, who was briefly replaced by guest host Niecy Nash during Season 5 while he recovered from COVID-19 himself, and judges Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger are all returning for Season 6.
News of “The Masked Singer” Season 6’s COVID cases and continued production was first reported by Insider.