Rumors And Spoilers About The Masked Singer
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Talk about a veritable Who's Who.
Chances are, you're one of the "9.36 million viewers" who tuned in to watch Fox's The Masked Singer when it premiered on Jan. 2, 2019 (per Deadline). As the official website explains, the televised singing competition pits 12 celebrities against one another, but with one particularly captivating "twist." Every celebrity is "shrouded from head to toe in an elaborate costume," and it's up to viewers to guess their true identities. As the weeks go on, pertinent details about each contestant are revealed in "The Clues," a series of short, glossily-produced vignettes baked into every episode and chockablock with cryptic confessions. Meanwhile, host Nick Cannon and four perpetually perplexed celeb panelists (Robin Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger, Jenny McCarthy, and Ken Jeong) try their best to figure out the performers' true identities. Let's see if we can beat them to it.
One contestant is unmasked at the end of every episode, and we've already seen six guests reveal their true selves before exiting the show. As E! Online reports, they are the Raven (former talk show host Ricki Lake), the Unicorn (actress Tori Spelling), the Poodle (comedian Margaret Cho), the Hippo (football player Antonio Brown), the Deer (fellow football player Terry Bradshaw), and the Pineapple (comedian Tommy Chong). Now, as the world scrambles to unmask the remaining contestants once and for all, new rumors are popping up every day on Twitter and various entertainment sites.
Here's our rundown of the most persuasive theories so far. Hit it!
Buzzworthy: Could Gladys Knight be the Bee?
Meet the Bee. She's "flown to soaring heights" throughout her "long career," and finds that "being a worker bee" has kept her young and vivacious. Go ahead and call her "Queen Bee" if you want, but "Empress" also does the trick just fine. As Newsweek reports, this mystery star launched her singing career in the 1950s. Meanwhile, what do peaches have to do with it?
One prevailing theory suggests Gladys Knight is the diva behind that Bee mask. Newsweek writes that "it seems to neatly check the boxes for every clue." For example: Georgia is nicknamed "The Peach State," according to State Symbols USA. In fact, the peach was even decreed "the official state fruit in 1995." (Bear with us.) As some Twitter denizens have pointed out, the visual clue of peaches is likely a nod to Gladys Knight and the Pips' Grammy-winning 1973 tune "Midnight Train to Georgia." Knight is often referred to as the "Empress of Soul," and she's been performing for decades. Also of note: One visual clue consisted of a bunch of kitchenware items ... and Knight is really into cooking. She's even written a book about it: At Home With Gladys Knight.
On Jan. 13, 2019, Patti LaBelle told Entertainment Tonight she thinks Knight is behind those honeyed tones: "Yes, some people thought it was me. I think it's Gladys... She's a queen bee!" Of course, there's a possibility LaBelle is the Bee and is making all this noise to distract us. Newsweek also suspects the Bee could be Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, or Diana Ross, while Vulture isn't ruling out Lil' Kim. What say you, hive mind?
Doesn't the Peacock' strut its stuff like... Donny Osmond?
Let's get acquainted with the Peacock. He loves the spotlight. In fact, he was only 5 years old when he "walked onto a stage for the first time." Also, he was apparently friends with a certain King of Pop named Michael Jackson. One more clue, just for kicks: It's "probably" been a long time "since your mom had a poster" of the Peacock on her wall.
Well. As Nicki Swift previously reported, it looks like the bird's identity was unwittingly revealed during a Jan. 8, 2019 episode of Access Live, when guest Marie Osmond strongly implied her brother Donny was the proud, plucky soul behind the mask. After hosts goaded Marie by exclaiming, "He's great as the Peacock!," she revealed Donny did begin performing at the tender age of 5, adding: "I told him, 'Why are you giving away such easy clues?'" Still, this could all be a delicious game to Marie. Asked to confirm whether Donny really is the preening bird, she demurred: "I don't know. But I know that we started at NBC, which was the Peacock." Coy!
Here's more food for thought: Donny called Michael Jackson his brother "from a different mother" in a 2016 interview with Utah Valley 360, and the two friends even co-hosted the 1974 American Music Awards (per Rolling Stone.) Another visual clue: three ceramic whales, which might be punning "on the country Wales," as Gold Derby noted. According to Wales Online, Osmond went to Merthyr Tydfil in 2005 and promptly "broke down in tears when he visited the grave of one of his Welsh ancestors." This story checks out!
Dagnabbit! Is JC Chasez the Rabbit?
Here's another stumper: The Rabbit claims he's "spent most of [his] life on stage," but he's never truly been alone. ("That means in a group!" panelist Jenny McCarthy theorized.) The bunny threw us this clue as well: "Now, I pop up here and I pop up there." Furthermore, "synchronized singing is [his] forte." Other tantalizing morsels: He's "performed on stage" wearing a mask before, and he finds "safety in a group."
According to Yahoo, the world is "convinced" former New Kids on the Block member (and McCarthy's husband) Donnie Wahlberg is the mystery bunny. (After all, one episode was named "New Masks on the Block.") McCarthy herself shot down that theory, telling Today she'd FaceTimed with Wahlberg while the Rabbit was performing on stage (via Country Living). Meanwhile, Vulture suspects former NSYNC member Joey Fatone. That's because the Rabbit claims, "The last mask standing is gonna be me." This could very well be a nod to NSYNC's 2000 hit "It's Gonna Be Me." Another hot take: Vulture thinks the Rabbit's "white straitjacket" looks like the straitjacket featured in the video for NSYNC's "Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)." Perhaps to throw us off the scent, Fatone flatly denied participating in the singing competition. He told Page Six he's "not in that show. I'm not the platypus or bunny or unicorn or whatever the hell you call it."
We agree with the Twitter folks who suspect the Rabbit is actually fellow former NSYNC crooner JC Chasez (pictured, right). Check out the album art for his 2004 solo album Schizophrenic. He's wearing a straitjacket!
Open your eye, people! The Monster is T-Pain! (maybe)
Here's what we know about the Monster. He's competing on The Masked Singer to "rewrite [his] mixtape" and "prove that [he's] more than just puff and fluff" after "the game turned on [him]." Following some major life setbacks, he evidently "retreated into [his] cave [to] take a break from the public eye." Now, he's showing the world that "no one can stop [him] from doing what [he loves]," despite the fact that he's been "labeled" a monster.
The Twitterverse seems convinced this furball is rapper T-Pain. The clues "overwhelmingly point to the famous rapper," according to Good Housekeeping. The aforementioned "puff and fluff" might allude to the criticism T-Pain faced for using Auto-Tune. That "monster" label could hint at the August 2018 incident at the airport in Atlanta. According to Complex, T-Pain was "questioned for allegedly having [a] loaded gun." One visual clue worth obsessing over: A skateboard, which also points to T-Pain. The rapper was even interviewed by Thrasher in May 2018 to discuss "his short-lived skateboarding career."
In news that Bustle believes will "delight Disney Channel fans," E! News floated the theory that High School Musical's Corbin Bleu is the Monster. The critter hinted he "like[s] to keep his head in the game." Bustle suggests that may be a riff on the song "Get'cha Head in the Game." Interesting theory, but Zac Efron sang that tune. Elsewhere, Bustle name-checks other suspects, including wrestler Chris Jericho and musicians CeeLo Green and Seal. Thoughts?
Identified flying object? La Toya Jackson may be the Alien
The Alien will see you now, but will you truly see her? The clues to her identity have been especially cryptic. For one thing, people "may think [she's] out of fashion." Competing on The Masked Singer reminds her "of being a young child, before the whole world knew me and my family's name." And then there's this little morsel: "In my family, anonymity is a completely alien concept." Meanwhile, visual clues abound. A coiled snake sits among stuffed animals, while another snake slithers through a desert landscape.
Panelist Robin Thicke thought The Alien might be model Bella Hadid. Ken Jeong suspected Paula Abdul beamed herself onto the show. Jenny McCarthy had a feeling it was model Kate Moss. Meanwhile, the Twitterverse pointed a collective finger at La Toya Jackson, and Good Housekeeping and Vulture did the same. Remember when Jackson posed with the snake for her 1989 Playboy spread? Couldn't the visual clue of five aliens be an allusion to The Jackson 5? According to Good Housekeeping, Jackson is about 5 feet, 5 inches tall, which jibes with The Alien's small stature.
On the other hand, Seventeen reports that many viewers think The Alien is Kendall Jenner. That theory meshes with the attention-grabbing family, but we're not sure how the other clues fit. Although Vulture's banking on Jackson, it thinks it could also be "one of the Braxton sisters," while Newsweek suggests Sheryl Crow or even Kourtney Kardashian could be our extraterrestrial star.
We ain't lyin': Dinah Jane may be the Lion
This theory about The Masked Singer certainly has teeth: Time to discuss The Lion, a contestant that's "here to roar." The majestic creature says she joined The Masked Singer so people can hear her sing "without any preconceived notions." Although she could be considered "Hollywood royalty," she wants to use her "voice to help others." Oh, and she's officially "stepping away from [her] pride to sing [her] heart out."
Around-the-clock Twitter investigators are confident The Lion is Rumer Willis. The New York Post supports this theory, noting that Willis is "leggy," previously appeared on Dancing with the Stars, and has already demonstrated her formidable singing chops on the Fox drama Empire. Vulture noted that Rumer's pedigree is very royal, indeed. She's the daughter of action star Bruce Willis and actress Demi Moore. Furthermore, she makes up "part of an all-female 'pride' with two sisters, Scout and Tallulah Belle." She also happens to be a Leo, and, according to the Daily Mail, she used to have a huge lion tattoo "on her left shoulder." One major wrinkle in this theory: As People reports, Rumer flatly denied she was the Lion at the 2019 SAG Awards 2019: "I am not," she said, adding: "All of a sudden when it started airing, I started getting all of these things in my Twitter feed." The question is: Do we believe her?
Elite Daily reported on a brand new mane suspect: Fifth Harmony member Dinah Jane. The publication even asked Jane if she was involved: "I will get back to you on that," she mysteriously replied. "I will probably work on the show. We'll see what happens." Curiouser and curiouser.