The Masked Singer (British TV series) series 5

The commissioning of the fifth series was announced by ITV in February 2022, alongside the fourth series as part of a two-year contract. Filming for the series took place in October 2023 at Bovingdon Studios in Hertfordshire, with the public being invited to apply for tickets to be in the audience. The series began airing on 30 December 2023, following the show's first Christmas special episode that aired on 25 December and as in second series, would begin prior to the New Year. ==Panellists and host==

Prior to the series airing, it was announced that Joel Dommett would return as presenter, with Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Rita Ora and Mo Gilligan all returning to the panel. However, owing to Ora's scheduling conflicts with the eleventh season of the American version, in which she replaced Nicole Scherzinger, it was confirmed that Charlie Simpson, who won the previous series as "Rhino", Olly Murs and Jennifer Saunders would serve as guest panellists in her place for three episodes, with Simpson in the season premiere, Murs in the third episode and Saunders in the fourth episode. Ellie Goulding served as a guest panellist in the fifth episode. Lenny Henry, who appeared in the second series as "Blob", served as a guest panellist in the sixth episode. Lorraine Kelly, who was revealed as "Owl" in the fifth episode, served as a guest panellist in the semi-final. Rob Brydon served as a guest panellist in the final. ==Contestants==

The twelve costumes for the fifth series were released on 10 December 2023. ==Episodes==

Episode 1 (30 December) • Guest panelist: Charlie Simpson (in place of Rita Ora) Episode 2 (6 January) Episode 3 (13 January) • Theme: Circus • Group number: "Let Go for Tonight" by Foxes • Guest panelist: Olly Murs (in place of Rita Ora) Episode 4 (20 January) • Theme: School Disco • Group number: "Live While We're Young" by One Direction • Guest panelist: Jennifer Saunders (in place of Rita Ora) Episode 5 (27 January) • Guest panelist: Ellie Goulding Episode 6 (3 February) • Guest panelist: Lenny Henry Episode 7: Semi-final (10 February) • Guest panelist: Lorraine Kelly After being unmasked, Tiffany performed her cover of "I Think We're Alone Now" as her encore. Episode 8: Final (17 February) • Group number: "By Your Side" by Calvin Harris ft. Tom Grennan • Guest panelist: Rob Brydon ==Ratings==

Official ratings are taken from BARB, utilising the four-screen dashboard which includes viewers who watched the programme on laptops, smartphones, and tablets within 7 days of the original broadcast. ==References==