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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Jasmine Allday

The Masked Dancer 2022: First clues revealed as 13 stars get into costume for new series

The Masked Dancer is back this weekend - as viewers up and down the country try and work out who is behind the masks.

Some of the characters taking to the floor include Onomatopoeia, Tomato Sauce, Sea Slug, Scissors, Cactus and Astronaut. Pillar and Post are the first ever duo, whilst Candlestick, Pearly King, Pig, Prawn Cocktail and Odd Socks will all be taking to the dancefloor to show off their skills as the panel try and guess who they are.

The ITV guessing game show returns to screens in a few days' time, with Joel Dommett hosting once again, whilst Oti Mabuse, Jonathan Ross and Davina McCall are joined by Peter Crouch as this series' judging panel.

Here we take a look at the very first clues ahead of the new series!

Pearly King will be competing on the new series - but who are they? (ITV)
The judges will have to figure out who's behind the Scissors costume (ITV)

Pearly King's identity is still staying firmly behind the mask but host Joel has teased just who it might be!

"I do think that Pearly King is my absolute favourite. They're really good and embrace the whole character. It's amazing and what makes this show wonderful is that it's not really in any way a talent show," he said, "You can be an amazing singer or dancer, but Pearly King isn’t the best dancer by country mile but he's embracing it and courts the audience, he’s really enjoying it and I think that can get you really far. The more you enjoy it, the more people enjoy watching you. It's really fun."

Whilst Pearly King might not be a great dancer, Joel says Onomatopoeia is much more skilled.

He added: "Onomatopoeia is another great costume and this person is a great dancer. They can really move, so I'm excited to see who is hiding behind the mask because I have absolutely no idea."

Onomatopoeia is a great dancer (ITV)

Davina finds The Masked Dancer much harder than The Masked Singer, but teased there were some "amazing" reveals.

"That’s the appeal of Dancer in that it is much harder. Which makes it in turn funnier. You know, it could be Mary Berry! Who knows. We've had some quite amazing people on this series, with the reveals making our jaws drop," she explained.

Jonathan was completely shocked by one person, adding: "You know what, there are some real surprises. There is one person at least who, when they get unmasked they were such a surprise because you’d have thought that they would have picked The Masked Singer but they did it deliberately because they knew that we’d all think that."

He also divulged some information about the other celebrities, teasing Scissors as someone with an "amazing physique and an amazing physicality about them. Pig, meanwhile, has a "lovely energy" and Tomato Sauce is "cute and flirty and has got a little twirly skirt on and throws a few signature moves". He felt Astronaut had the hardest job.

Pillar and Post are the first duo on the show - but who is behind the mask? (ITV)

For the first time ever, there is a duo on the show - Pillar and Post - and new panellist Peter Crouch has teased some details about the pair, and who might be behind the mask!

"We’re not sure if it's a television couple, a radio couple, Ant and Dec. Is it an actual couple, like a real life couple, is it a father and son or father and daughter? When you see a couple on stage, so many things go through your head," he said.

As The Masked Dancer makes its return, and even with the first lot of clues, viewers will no doubt have to get their thinking caps on - as without a voice, Davina admitted it's even tougher this time around!

"I like that it's tougher. With The Masked Dancer there are some amazing costumes where you really can see the physicality of a person. I've spent several weeks trying to work out whether some of the characters are male or female," she said.

*The new series of The Masked Dancer starts on Saturday 3rd September at 6.30pm on ITV and ITV Hub.

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