After wowing audiences worldwide, The Masked Singer has finally landed in the UK!
The hit Korean singing competition now has its British home on ITV and had a stellar opening weekend when it kicked off on Saturday, January 4th.
Not only have ITV brought in celebs to compete against each other, they’ve also brought in an all-star panel of judges. However, after just one week of episodes, American actor and The Masked Singer UK judge, Ken Jeong is now absent.
So, where is Ken? Will he return to The Masked Singer this series?
(Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Where is Ken Jeong?
After the first week of episodes aired, there was a change in lineup, as American actor Ken Jeong was suddenly absent from the panel.
On January 9th, The Masked Singer judge Davina McCall went on This Morning to talk about the show. And during the interview, Davina revealed that Ken was absent as he had to miss a couple of weeks of filming.
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So far, there has been no confirmation on why Ken Jeong had to miss filming The Masked Singer UK. However, we hope that following broadcast, he might give us some more intel on his absence.
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When will Ken Jeong return?
Davina confirmed that Ken Jeong was away for two weeks of filming, however there’s no telling yet whether that will be two episodes or more.
There will be eight episodes in this first season. So, even if Ken is just absent for two, that’s still a chunk of the series!
If he is off for the next two weeks, that means we won’t expect to see Ken back on our screens ’til Saturday, January 25th.
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Meet Ken’s The Masked Singer replacement
Taking over the judging duties for the next two weeks is none other than Donny Osmond!
The singer is no stranger to the world of The Masked Singer, having competed as ‘Peacock’ in the first-ever American series of the show.
In her This Morning interview, Davina also added that Donny was a particularly “tough” judge.
She told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield:
I have to say to you, Donny Osmond came on the panel as a guest as Ken couldn’t make it for two weeks. He was quite tough. He was slightly critiquing.
I thought, “Get you, Donny!”
WATCH THE MASKED SINGER SATURDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHTS ON ITV