The Masked Singer bosses were so desperate to keep the celebrity performers secret they kicked out the audience.
A UK version of the surreal gameshow is coming to ITV next year as 12 famous faces take on a masked identity and become a fantastic character which will disguise them for the whole series.
Viewers at home have to guess who the singer is just by their performance – and producers are pulling out all the stops to make sure the big names are not exposed.
Even the panellists, TV presenter Davina McCall, chat show king Jonathan Ross, singer Rita Ora and The Hangover actor Ken Jeong were kept in the dark.
Speaking at today's press screening for the new series, the show's presenter Joel Dommett admitted the level of secrecy blew his mind.
The comedian said: 'We filmed the whole show and when it got to the moment where they took the mask off we got rid of the audience.
"That's the level of the secrecy. It blew my mind. When we took on this job we all thought 'we’ll know, it’ll be fine. we’ll be told under the table'.
"There was none of that. Six people I think on the production knew all the names."
The panellists have to work out who is behind the mask, with some guesses including Idris Elba, Olivia Colman and Angela Lansbury.
The Masked Singer was filmed in the Dancing On Ice studio in Hertfordshire – but the audience was not allowed to stay in case they leaked the secrets.
Jonathan joked: "You can imagine how happy they were. A rainy night in Bovingdon. Not having seen who’s under the mask.
"After the first show we said before you do that next time can you tell them so we can leave. Before they told the audience we were just like we’re going to the loo.
"They were told beforehand so they were actually cool about it."
Davina, who hasn't even told her kids who performed in front of her, said: "It gets to the point where we don't want to know, we want to guess.
"If somebody came up to me and said 'do you want me to tell you who it is' I'd say 'no don't tell me I'm enjoying this'."
The TV favourite admitted that some of her friends were "disappointed" that she did not recognise them before the unmasking.
Ken confessed he had not realised three close friends had performed for him on the US version, while Jonathan failed to identity someone who has made multiple appearances on his show.
On whether the guests were ever offended by some of the guesses, he said: "It was all kind of good natured. We made sure to be supportive of the singing as much as possible.
"A few times we did say maybe thats not a professional singer and it turned out it was. That was the closest to being awkward it got. There's no malice or nastiness.
"I think once I made a joke like that and the audience quickly made me know that is not what they wanted. So we adjusted I didn’t make a joke like that anymore.
"We’re trying to make it a warm and supportive show. It’s a risk these people are taking."
*The Masked Singer airs early next year on ITV
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