Why Rita Ora Is Replacing Nicole Scherzinger for ‘The Masked Singer’ Season 11

A Masked Singer shakeup is coming! Rita Ora will be joining the show in season 11, replacing longtime celebrity panelist Nicole Scherzinger.

So why the unexpected switch-up after 10 seasons of playing musical detective alongside her stalwart co-stars, Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy and Ken Jeong?

It seems there’s no bad blood involved in the decision. Rather, Scherzinger is headed to London’s West End for a production of Sunset Boulevard, in which the former Pussycat Dolls singer is set to star as Norma Desmond, which will launch at the Savoy Theatre later with month.

As Scherzinger heads to England, British pop star Ora is coming to Hollywood to take her spot on the panel. Although she’s not coming in without experience — Ora has already been serving as a panelist on the U.K. version of The Masked Singer for the show’s four seasons on ITV.

Meanwhile, ET has learned that, while season 12 of The Masked Singer has not been officially announced, Scherzinger would be expected to return to the show if and when it gets picked up again.

While the news of Ora’s role in season 11 was announced on Sunday, season 10 of The Masked Singer has yet to premiere. The new season officially kicks off Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.

Meanwhile, it doesn’t look like fans should expect to see Thicke or McCarthy leaving the panel anytime soon. Recently, ET visited the set for a sneak peek at what season 10 has in store, and both Thicke and McCarthy revealed that they’d be down to stick around for quite some time.

“I have 30 more seasons in me,” McCarthy said with glee, adding that being on the show’s 10th season “literally feels like a little bit of a dream.”

“I’m hoping this is a show that can go on and on, like American Idol,” McCarthy shared. “[And] why not? There are a lot of celebrities that can sing and are hiding it.”

When asked about whether he’d want to be a part of the show for years to come, Thicke declared, “I’m down! Yeah, I’m down for 25 seasons. Absolutely.”

“I’ve got four kids,” he added. “So it’s a great schedule. You know, we shoot a couple months a year [and] I get the rest of the year to do whatever I want.”

Check out the video below to hear more.

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