The Masked Singer: Rita Ora Replacing Nicole Scherzinger for Season 11
Paul Dailly
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Rita Ora is joining FOX's The Masked Singer.
FOX announced Wednesday that the British pop star will take over for Nicole Scherzinger on The Masked Singer Season 11, set to air in 2024.
The move doesn't affect The Masked Singer Season 10, which premiered Sunday on the network.
The switcheroo is due to Scherzinger's commitment to performing on London's West End in the fall.
Scherzinger, who has been with the show since its premiere in 2019, is expected to return for Season 12 if it gets a formal pickup by the network.
The Pussycat Doll is set to play Norma Desmond in the production of Sunset Boulevard.
With The Masked Singer filming two seasons a year, booking other projects that don't clash with the filming schedule must be tough.
Ora will appear alongside returning panelists Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, and Robin Thicke, as well as Nick Cannon, who returns as host.
Despite a career as a proven hitmaker, this isn't Ora's first time on U.S. TV.
She appeared as a host on America's Next Top Model and had a cameo on FOX's Empire.
Further afield, she's appeared on The Voice: Australia and The X-Factor UK.
This won't be Ora's first time on a Masked Singer series, either.
She's appeared on four seasons of the UK iteration.
Ora was attached to the Disney+ Beauty and the Beast prequel series in 2022, where she was supposed to play "a fugitive with surprising abilities who carries with her a secret that could potentially affect an entire kingdom."
Despite scoring a series order at the streaming service, it was canceled early into production, shocking many fans.
Scherzinger will appear on the current tenth season of The Masked Singer, which returns for the rest of its season on Wednesday, September 27, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
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Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
