WE TAKE THE CLUES VERY SERIOUSLY

Derek Mcclean and Daniel Nettleton, founders of production company Bandicoot, are the men who brought the show to Britain.

They snapped up the UK rights, and are executive producers on the show.

‘Each country has its own twist, but for us it was important that it felt eccentric and leaned into that British sensibility,’ says Daniel. ‘British stars are much more up for a laugh.’

Derek believes the secrecy surrounding the singers is key to its success too. ‘Everyone has a code name and we have body doubles for the recorded interviews, which are filmed in random locations, because we can’t drag the stars round the country. Former home secretary Alan Johnson, who was Golden Pharaoh last year, said, “This is the toughest security I’ve ever been under.”’

Viewers are given tantalising clues

Costume tweaks, and early drawings of Alien and Badger by the characters as to who they could be. ‘We hadn’t realised how obsessed the viewers would get with the guessing on series one, so we’ve had to up our game this time,’ says Derek. ‘The clues team go through interviews from way back to find obscure facts about the stars. We’re quite pleased this year because we’ve thrown a few people quite far off the scent.’ Daniel agrees. ‘Our clues producer Darren has a team who don’t know who the stars are. When his team say, “I think it’s so-and-so...” Darren tweaks the clues to make them easier or harder. We take the clues more seriously than anything.’