Masked Singer: Star jets to Sydney amid COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he didn’t initially make the decision to give The Masked Singer an exemption to film in Melbourne, after the show suffered a COVID-19 outbreak.
Confidential
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Contact tracing is underway as health officials frantically investigate a recent COVID-19 outbreak on the set of The Masked Singer in Melbourne.
One of the show’s performers, Christine Anu (The Goldfish), recently returned to Sydney after filming at the Docklands studio where the outbreak occured, however a spokeswoman told Confidential that the singer does not pose any health risks and underwent the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
“She’s perfectly fine and out of quarantine, there are no health concerns,” a spokeswoman said.
Anu was eliminated from the show on Monday night, but filming took place in advance and she is understood to have returned to Sydney earlier this month.
Singer Katie Noonan (The Sloth) was also eliminated this week.
Channel 10 recently announced that 200 associates of the show are in self-isolation after seven crew members tested positive for coronavirus last week, forcing production to be shut down.
The finale was scheduled to be filmed last week but is now on hold due to the outbreak and the show is now up in the air.
The ratings juggernaut was granted an exemption by the Victorian government to film without a live audience under stage 4 restrictions, after it was deemed an essential service and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews explained the decision at a press conference.
“Well they’re not decisions initially made by me. What I would say though is that there
are some in screen for instance, there are some productions that if they weren’t to continue, then the whole thing would basically fall over and would be lost to Victoria,” Andrews said adding that it’s “a case by case basis”.
Host Osher Gunsberg and panellists Dannii Minogue, Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, Dave Hughes and Urzila Carlson are among those isolating as a precaution.
Earlier this month, the KIIS radio host was forced to apologise after she was pictured arriving to the studio without a mask, which Victorians are required to wear under stage 4 restrictions.
“It is stupid. I forgot it and I am sorry,” Henderson said on-air.
The eastern suburbs-based host temporarily relocated to Melbourne last month for the duration of filming and will return home to Sydney once given the all-clear.
“The entire production team, including the masked singers, the host and panellists are now in self-isolation. They are all being monitored closely and are in constant contact with medical authorities,” a statement read.
Filming for season two moved from Sydney’s Fox Studios to Melbourne this year due to limited studio space.
“The Masked Singer was always going to be filmed in Melbourne this year as there was no studio space available for it to be filmed in NSW,” a Channel 10 spokeswoman said.
Minogue was recently forced to address backlash after she was granted a hotel quarantine exemption after flying to the Gold Coast from Los Angeles on July 13.
She spent 14 days in a private residence instead of a quarantine hotel due to a medical condition and was wrongly accused of being given special treatment.
“People didn’t know the details,” she previously said.
“The outrage was because people didn’t know all the facts. I’m the same person, I haven’t changed, I wouldn’t ask for a ‘celebrity’ treatment or to have anything special granted to me. I went by the book, I made sure my priority was keeping everyone safe - everyone. That would never change, that’s how I am as a person. I thought people knew me a bit better by now.”