The origin of Toastie’s Masked Singer costume is the stuff of nightmares

Of all of The Masked Singer UK costumes this year, Toastie is one of the most memorable.

Not just because of the incredible design of the character, with the cheese dripping down their outfit onto their shoes, their woolly hat and zip-up jacket, but because of their expression.

The team that created Toastie’s look could have given them a beaming smile, in keeping with the overall cheery nature of the show.

But instead, the cartoonish figure looks downright terrified, and the reason for this choice of expression is the stuff of nightmares, costume designer Tim Simpson told Metro.

Tim, who’s the creative director at Plunge Creations, explained that the concept behind Toastie was that they’ve been ‘bitten into, and so they’re ‘already terrified about their imminent demise’.

‘That was the idea with Toastie, that this is a Toastie that is absolutely terrified that it’s being eaten. So the glance to the left is very much a sense of fear,’ he shared.

‘I don’t think we’ve put fear into any of our costumes before, and so that kind of appealed to my sense of the ridiculous.’

It’s no accident that previous costumes on The Masked Singer haven’t incorporated a ‘sense of fear’, as Tim believes that there’s a ‘reluctance to do anything that’s going to scare the audience, or worry children’.

‘But I think there is some space for that. I think there’s some space to create a little bit of mischievous fear,’ he added.

‘There’s something slightly demonic about Gargoyle, if you want to take it that way, except it looks so big and smiley. There’s a reason we’ve avoided clowns, because so many people are scared of clowns.

‘So there are things that we shy away from. But I like to push the envelope, so who knows what I’ll try and suggest next year.’

However, Tim pointed out that this isn’t the first time The Masked Singer UK has veered towards the playfully scary.

On New Year’s Day in 2023, pundit Chris Kamara was revealed to be Ghost on the programme – and his costume was literally a sheet with eyes placed over the top.

Proof that sometimes, even the simplest designs can be incredibly effective and entertaining.

‘I think you can be playful with all of these things. I think you can play around. We’ve done a ghost, but it really wasn’t a very scary ghost,’ Tim said.

‘We’ve done a slightly demonic-looking Gargoyle. One day, maybe we’ll end up with vampires and ghoulies.’

So far on this year’s series, Toastie has delivered several belting performances, delivering renditions of classic songs including Aerosmith and Run-DMC’s Walk This Way, Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things and Whitney Houston’s Run To You.

When it comes to guessing Toastie’s identity, the judges have suggested stars such as Mel C, Jennifer Hudson, Fergie and Brenda Edwards.

Stay tuned to find out who’s behind the petrified mask!

The Masked Singer UK returns tonight at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

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