Bruno Tonioli: Keeping Masked Dancer identity a secret was a nightmare

25 October 2022

Bruno Tonioli says it was “a nightmare” keeping his ‘The Masked Dancer’ identity a secret.

Bruno Tonioli loved being on The Masked Dancer but says it was a 'nightmare' keeping his identity a secret

The former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge - who took on the persona of the Pearly King on the ITV show - found it “hard” to come up with lots of excuses to justify saying no to his loved ones.

The 66-year-old star said: “That was a nightmare because there were things I couldn't do and I couldn't tell (friends or family) why. I'd find all these excuses to justify turning things down. It was hard, but now I'll be forgiven!”

Despite this, Bruno “really loved” being the Pearly King and became “possessed” by his new alter-ego on the British edition of the South Korean show.

He said: “I really loved the character. I absolutely adore Pearly King. Whilst playing him, I was possessed by him. I had to tame him. It took me a couple weeks to tame the character because it was taking over. It was such a good character.

"The head, it's not so much the heaviness it's that it was so wide. When you moved it kept moving so it had its own gravity field and you couldn't see. It was like being inebriated and blindfolded at the same time. It wasn't easy I have to say.

"The character itself carries you through it. It's a skill, not just for me but for everyone else, every costume has its own ways of using it.

"With Pearly King the head was so wide, it really was a big head. It couldn't get any bigger and because of the shape of it, it was almost like having a visor.

"You can rehearse and plan the routine and then when the light changes when on the stage it creates shadows so sometimes I had no idea where I was! Sometimes the dancers had to help steer me around the stage because I had no sense of direction.

"It was a challenge but I really enjoyed it. I loved working with the dancers, they were so good, I loved the process of being back in the rehearsal room, it was wonderful."

The ‘Dancing With the Stars’ judge labelled 'The Masked Dancer' presenter Joel Dommett “such a good sport” for putting up with his antics.