‘The Masked Singer’ producer reveals the secret behind the show’s success

TV producer Craig Plestis decided to bring “The Masked Singer” to the United States after seeing the show at a Thai restaurant.

Plestis told The New York Post he noticed the show while watching TV at a Thai restaurant with his daughter.

• “I had my back to the TV set and my daughter said, ‘Look at what’s on the TV,’” he said. “I had a long day of working on another show and the last thing I wanted to do was watch TV, but she said, ‘Dad, you need to see this, it’s really interesting,’” he said.

• “When I turned around and looked at the restaurant everyone was glued to the TV set,” he says. “The Thai version (of the show) had elaborate outfits and lighting and a kangaroo dressed all in pleather. … I was mesmerized. I sat there and quickly (researched) the show’s premise, who owns it and called up my agent — literally right there in the restaurant — and said ‘I want to get this. There’s magic here.’”

Flashback: The show debuted in South Korea back in 2015, becoming a viral internet sensation over there, according to Billboard.

• Plestis said he was nervous pitching it to Fox, which eventually agreed to air it.

• “It was scary casting it. That took the longest amount of time,” Plestis told the New York Post. “We were knocking on doors and trying to convince people to be part of the first season of a TV show, which is always hard.

Success: He said keeping secrets on the show has been the hardest part. But, he said, the family-friendly attitude has helped it succeed.

• “The beauty of ‘The Masked Singer’ is that it’s a family-friendly show,” he says. “Everyone in the house can watch it together and play a guessing game. People are really engaged. You can talk about the show with someone in your living room — or online with a huge community of people guessing as well.”

Next up: The show’s next episode airs tonight at 7 p.m. MST on Fox.