Hit show The Masked Singer returns to FOX on Sunday, February 2 with eighteen new masked celebrities competing to retain their newly acquired anonymity.
Since the series first started airing in January 2019, a total of twenty-eight stars, ranging from musicians, athletes, actors and professional singers, have donned elaborate costumes to appear on the show.
hippo (antonio brown)
In the premiere episode, “Hippo” was revealed as Antonio Brown, a wide receiver who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He performed one song — My Prerogative by Bobby Brown.
Hippo/Brown holds the dubious distinction of being the first character voted off in both season one as well as the US adaptation overall.
pineapple (tommy chong)
Chong, known for the double act Cheech and Chong (with Cheech Marin), was revealed as Pineapple in the second episode. He performed I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.
deer (terry bradshaw)
Like Hippo, Deer also had a football connection, being revealed as former professional quarterback Terry Bradshaw, also a former Steelers player.
Bradshaw performed Thunder by Imagine Dragons and Get Your Shine On by Florida Georgia Line.
poodle (margaret cho)
Poodle was Margaret Cho, a comedian, actress and fashion designer who had previously worked panellist Ken Jeong on his former show Dr Ken. Jeong failed to recognise her.
Cho performed Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar and Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper during her stint.
Unicorn (tori spelling)
Actress and former Beverly Hills 90210 star Tori Spelling was revealed to be the Unicorn.
Throughout her time on the show, Spelling sang Fight Song by Rachel Platten, Oops!… I Did It Again by Britney Spears and I Love It by Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX.
raven (ricki lake)
Emmy winning talk show host and original Hairspray star Ricki Lake was unveiled as the Raven.
Lake tackled songs such as Rainbow by Kesha, Bad Romance by Lady Gaga and Brave by Sara Bareilles prior to her elimination.
Alien (latoya jackson)
La Toya Jackson, member of the famous Jackson musical family and a singer-songwriter/television personality in her own right, was under the Alien mask.
Jackson’s songs in the show included Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man, Lovefool by The Cardigans, Happy by Pharell Williams and Ex‘s and Oh’s by Elle King.
lion (rumer willis)
Actress, dancer, Broadway star and daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Rumer was revealed as the Lion in the season one semi-finals.
She performed four times throughout the season, with songs including California Dreamin’ by Sia and Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing by Stevie Wonder.
rabbit (joey fatone)
Former NSYNC member Fatone was eliminated in the semi-finals alongside Rumer Willis, being unmasked Rabbit.
During his time on the The Masked Singer, Fatone started a precedent of firmly denying being on the show when asked prior to the televised reveal.
He performed My Girl by The Temptations for the penultimate episode, his last in the competition.
bee (gladys knight)
After weeks of speculation, Knight was revealed as the masked Bee in the finale, being eliminated in the first portion of the episode.
She showcased her immense vocal talent with songs such as Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus and Locked Out Of Heaven by Bruno Mars.
peacock (donny osmond)
Osmond, a past winner of Dancing With The Stars, finished as runner-up in season one with his enigmatic showman Peacock character.
He was the very first character to sing in the first episode, kicking off the US Masked Singer.
Some of Osmond’s performances included All Of Me by John Legend and Can’t Feel My Face by The Weeknd.
monster (t-pain)
Season one champion “Monster” was revealed as rapper/vocalist T-Pain, who has long garnered critcism for his use of auto tune software in his performances.
T-Pain outlasted eleven other celebrities to claim the Golden Mask.
season two
egg
In the season two premiere, Egg’s shell was cracked open to reveal Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir hiding inside.
ice cream (ninja)
Also melting away in the Season 2 premiere was Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, a then-Twitch and now-Mixer streamer.
panda (Laila ali)
Panda was revealed in the second episode as former champion boxer Laila Ali, daughter of the highly regarded Muhammad .
eagle (dr drew pinsky)
Eagle removed his mask with qualified physician and radio host Dr Drew Pinsky being the man inside the costume.
Pinsky knows panellists Ken Jeong and Jenny McCarthy personally, although separately, for different reasons. McCarthy guessed Pinsky’s longtime broadcast partner, comedian Adam Carrolla, as Eagle.
skeleton (paul shaffer)
Former Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer was revealed as the Skeleton.
In previous episodes, Ken Jeong had thought Skeleton was Shaffer’s best friend, Martin Short.
penguin (sherri shepherd)
Emmy-winning Sherri Shepherd was revealed as Penguin in the first half of a double episode that aired that night.
black widow (raven-symone)
Former Disney star Raven’s reveal aired on the same night as Shepherd, though in different episodes.
Her Black-ish on-screen brother Anthony Anderson was a guest judge when Symone was unmasked.
ladybug (kelly osbourne)
Ladybug was revealed as Kelly Osbourne, who had manipulated her voice throughout the season in order to lead the judges astray.
flower (patti labelle)
LaBelle, a friend of season one finalist Knight and godmother to host Nick Cannon’s children, was revealed as the Flower.
Earlier in the season, fans believed Flower to be actress Mayim Bialik, known for Blossom and The Big Bang Theory.
butterfly (michelle williams)
Williams, formerly of Destiny’s Child, was revealed to be the Butterfly. She was in the final seven of the competition.
Another major guess for Williams’ character was her former bandmate Kelly Rowland.
tree (ana gasteyer)
Comedian, former SNL performer and Broadway star Gasteyer was unmasked just one week before the semi-finals.
Although some fans pegged Gasteyer immediately, others were not as convinced with guesses including Amy Sedaris, Candace Cameron Bure and Katey Sagal.
thingamajig (victor oladipo)
Indiana Pacers player and NBA All-Star Oladipo was exposed as the mysterious Thingamajig during the semi-final, bringing his season-long flirtation with judge Nicole Scherzinger to an end.
Prior to his reveal, Oladipo denied in a press conference that he was Thingamajig, claiming he had never heard of the show.
leopard (seal)
Grammy winner Seal was revealed as Leopard in the semi-finals, being eliminated alongside Oladipo/Thingamajig.
In order to keep his identity a secret, Seal purposely disguised his voice and mannerisms to match his character’s appearance.
Seal also denied knowledge of the show, when asked about Leopard over two months before the reveal aired.
flamingo (adrienne bailon)
Former Cheetah Girls member, now host of The Real, Bailon was The Flamingo, unknowingly reuniting with former bandmate Raven-Symone (Black Widow).
Similarly to her fellow contestants, Bailon distanced herself from Flamingo when rumours started circulating that she was under the mask.
rottweiler (chris daughtry)
Onetime American Idol contestant and later frontman of his self-named band, Daughtry hid under the Rottweiler mask all season.
He very cleverly promoted the show with a tweet denying his involvement.
fox (wayne brady)
Comedian Wayne Brady won The Masked Singer season two as Fox, showcasing his talented vocal range on songs such as Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton and Try A Little Tenderness by Otis Redding, among others.
Brady had been a guess for T-Pain’s Monster character during season one.
As mentioned The Masked Singer returns on February 2 with eighteen new characters. As always, it will be aired on FOX.
A lifelong TV and Film buff, Conor founded Courageous Nerd in 2019. He has conducted hundreds of interviews for the site, as well as written comprehensive feature articles on a variety of topics. You can find him on X: @conorrcn.
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