Production halted on second TV show after Masked Singer scare

Production has also shut on Eddie McGuire's Millionaire Hot Seat. Photo: Channel Nine
A television show that shared studio facilities in Melbourne with the Ten Networkâs The Masked Singer has halted production after a dancer on the celebrity singing program caught the coronavirus.
Channel Nine confirmed its quiz show Millionaire Hotseat is the second show to go into hiatus in the Victorian capital after TMS temporarily pulled the plug when more crew members tested positive for COVID-19.
The dancer on the set of TMS in Melbourneâs Docklands has been hailed for raising the alarm just hours before the filming of the finale.
The entire production team, including host Osher Gunsberg and celebrity judges Dannii Minogue and Dave Hughes, are in self-isolation.
Gunsberg revealed the Network Ten show, in which masked celebrities compete against each other in a singing competition, was two hours away from recording its grand finale.
âWe are ready to go and ⌠this young person put their hand up and said, âHang on, guys, Iâm not feeling so great, I should probably let you know thisâ,â he told The Project on Sunday.
âThey were brave enough to pull the emergency brake on this freight train.
âWe hit stop and everything shut down.â
Tweet from @theprojecttv
Gunsberg, who is awaiting his test result, hoped the cast memberâs courage would serve as an example to others.
âNothing is as important as everyoneâs safety,â he said.
The show was granted an exemption to keep filming in Melbourne despite the cityâs strict Stage 4 lockdown restrictions.
âThere are some productions if they werenât to continue then they would be lost to Victoria,â Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday.
âItâs done on a case-by-case basis and itâs always accompanied by a COVIDSafe Plan.â
On Monday, the show announced it would continue to broadcast episodes already filmed, saying it had âplenty of episodes ready to goâ.
Tweet from @maskedsinger_au
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said some crew had tested positive but insisted it did not necessarily mean there had been a breach of any guidelines.
Gunsberg said the showâs producers had worked âhand in gloveâ with the Department of Health and Human Services to prove production was safe.
âIâm really militant about this stuff [COVID-19],â he said.
âIâve never been on a stricter set, on a more segregated set.
âEveryone was working in little pods. No people crossed over.â
The Victorian health department is continuing to investigate the outbreak.
-AAP








