The Scots boss of The Masked Dancer is hoping the series, which kicks off tomorrow, will become one of the most talked about shows of the year.
The spin-off to the hugely successful The Masked Singer will be on every night for a week in the spot where the Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals usually happen.
Because BGT was cancelled this year, ITV asked Derek McLean and his Glasgow -based company Bandicoot to step up with The Masked Dancer - a guessing game where celebrities’ moves rather than their voices are the clues to unmasking them.
Derek, co-executive producer of The Masked Dancer, said: “We are hoping it’s going to be a big event TV week. After the success of Masked Singer it felt the right time to do it and we are excited to give it a go.”
In February, when Joss Stone was crowned winner of the second series of The Masked Singer as Sausage, the show got a peak viewing figure of 10.6million. And as Dancer is harder to figure out than Singer, he’s hoping he’ll have the nation gripped.
He said: “I’m very proud that two of ITV’s biggest shows are coming from the southside of Glasgow - with Singer and Catchphrase, which is made by STV Studios. We hope Dancer will do the same and Scotland will continue to rule primetime.”
Bandicoot are now ITV’s second largest supplier and Singer is being sold around the world.
Derek is hoping to use the new £11.9m studio inside Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall for “huge scale shows”. And he said: “I’d love to bring a huge TV show to Glasgow. That would be my dream."
While Singer was filmed in Bovingdon in Hertfordshire, Dancer was made at Wembley Arena.
Derek is very pleased with the celebs he’s got under costumes, who more than match the likes of Ne-Yo, Mel B, A-ha’s Morten Harket and Glenn Hoddle.
Derek, from Ayr, said: “I think it’s a more fun guessing game than Singer because you don’t hear their voices. For all the fans at home who think they’ve cracked Masked Singer well think again on this one. Dancer is a real challenge”
As well are regular judges Davina McCal l, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan, Strictly Come Dancing double winner Oti Mabuse joined the panel with guest judges Holly Willoughby, David Walliams and John Bishop adding to the wild guessing ideas.
Derek claimed Oti is the key. He said: “She’s the queen of dance. She is there to try and deduce who they might be from the moves. She may have danced with some of them, she might recognise signature moves. The other panel rely on her and ask her for her opinion all the time. She’s hit it off with all the panel. They really adore her.”
He knew she was the one when she met her during filming of The Masked Singer to see if she wanted the gig on Dancer.
Derek laughed: “She spent about 15 minutes quizzing me on who was still on the show. She just wouldn’t give up.”
Some celebs who were approached to do Singer but claimed they couldn’t sing were asked to do Dancer.
Derek said: “There were a few who said they couldn’t carry a tune so when Dancer came up we got back... ‘you can’t sing - but can you dance?’ Actually there are more people with some experience of dance than singing.” He’s chuffed at the names Dancer has nabbed. He said: “Some I just can’t believe we got. There are big names all the way through it. You are going to be surprised.”
The levels to keep the contestants a secret is still the same on Dancer.
Backstage the celebs are only referred to as their masked character. They have a mirrored visor with every bit of skin covered and wear a hoodie saying: “Don’t speak to me”. And they can only speak to staff with tops saying “speak to me”.
The Masked Dancer characters - Zip, Carwash, Beagle, Squirrel, Scarecrow, Frog, Beetroot, Viper, Rubber Chicken, Flamingo, Knickerbocker Glory, and Llama - as well looking great have to be able to pop and lock or do the foxtrot.
Derek said: “Different ages and sexes like different kinds of costumes. We had to make sure they are fun but also they can do all the dance moves.
“We had to have extra rehearsal to make sure the costumes moved right.”
Because we won’t hear their voices there are clues everywhere to help you unmask the dancers.
The backing dancers can be clues. There are clues hidden in the dance and on the stage and later in the series the masked characters will speak.
Derek offers another huge clue. He said: “People who are single and living alone or don’t have kids could bubble with a dance partner and do partner routines earlier in the shows.
“While those with families had to dance on their own with backing dancers behind them.”
Derek added: “Singer kept us smiling during the pandemic and I hope Dancer will be a bit of fun to bring us out of lockdown.”
●The Masked Dancer kicks off tomorrow, STV at 7pm.
