diff --git a/js/src/lib/components/InferenceWidget/shared/helpers.ts b/js/src/lib/components/InferenceWidget/shared/helpers.ts
index 62e8824e5..e89206258 100644
--- a/js/src/lib/components/InferenceWidget/shared/helpers.ts
+++ b/js/src/lib/components/InferenceWidget/shared/helpers.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { ModelData } from "../../../interfaces/Types";
 import { randomItem, parseJSON } from "../../../utils/ViewUtils";
+import type { WidgetExample } from "./WidgetExample";
 import type { ModelLoadInfo, TableData } from "./types";
 
 export function getSearchParams(keys: string[]): string[] {
@@ -19,6 +20,14 @@ export function getDemoInputs(model: ModelData, keys: (number | string)[]): any[
 	});
 }
 
+export function getWidgetExample<TWidgetExample extends WidgetExample>(
+	model: ModelData,
+	validateExample: (sample: WidgetExample) => sample is TWidgetExample
+): TWidgetExample | undefined {
+	const sample = model.widgetData?.length ? randomItem(model.widgetData) : undefined;
+	return sample && validateExample(sample) ? sample : undefined;
+}
+
 // Update current url search params, keeping existing keys intact.
 export function updateUrl(obj: Record<string, string | undefined>): void {
 	if (!window) {
diff --git a/js/src/lib/components/InferenceWidget/widgets/FillMaskWidget/FillMaskWidget.svelte b/js/src/lib/components/InferenceWidget/widgets/FillMaskWidget/FillMaskWidget.svelte
index 08c16186d..24d767881 100644
--- a/js/src/lib/components/InferenceWidget/widgets/FillMaskWidget/FillMaskWidget.svelte
+++ b/js/src/lib/components/InferenceWidget/widgets/FillMaskWidget/FillMaskWidget.svelte
@@ -8,7 +8,13 @@
 	import WidgetTextarea from "../../shared/WidgetTextarea/WidgetTextarea.svelte";
 	import WidgetSubmitBtn from "../../shared/WidgetSubmitBtn/WidgetSubmitBtn.svelte";
 	import WidgetWrapper from "../../shared/WidgetWrapper/WidgetWrapper.svelte";
-	import { addInferenceParameters, getDemoInputs, getResponse, getSearchParams, updateUrl } from "../../shared/helpers";
+	import {
+		addInferenceParameters,
+		getResponse,
+		getSearchParams,
+		getWidgetExample,
+		updateUrl,
+	} from "../../shared/helpers";
 	import { isValidOutputLabels } from "../../shared/outputValidation";
 	import { isTextInput } from "../../shared/inputValidation";
 
@@ -38,9 +44,8 @@
 			setTextAreaValue(textParam);
 			getOutput();
 		} else {
-			const [demoText] = getDemoInputs(model, ["text"]);
-			/// TODO(get rid of useless getDemoInputs)
-			setTextAreaValue(demoText ?? "");
+			const sample = getWidgetExample(model, validateExample);
+			setTextAreaValue(sample?.text ?? "");
 			if (text && callApiOnMount) {
 				getOutput({ isOnLoadCall: true });
 			}