The Masked Singer fever has taken over the UK, with singers Skin and Jake Shears unmasked in the British version of the popular series this past weekend (February 1st, 2020). The Season 3 premiere of the show in the United States truly took audiences by surprise however, when they unmasked their first celebrity of the season and revealed one of the biggest names in music to be under the robot costume.
Jamie Foxx joined the show for one episode only as a guest judge, sitting alongside the regular panel which includes Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy. All had varying guesses for who could be lurking behind the Robot character, but none were even close to picking up on who was really hiding behind the mask.
Putting their own spin on Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way, the mystery celeb impressed with their vocal tones, despite convincing the judges that music wasn't something they did for a living.
McCarthy picked up on the robot being dismantled and put back together in the video package which played before their performance, as well as the word "stunt" being used, and so guessed that it was somebody from the series Jackass, ultimately settling on Johnny Knoxville.
Foxx would go down the same route, but thought that the singer was more likely to be Steve-O.
Both they and the rest of the panel couldn't believe it when the audience decided that it was Robot who should be sent packing, with the contestant taking off their mask to reveal...
The rapping superstar is one of the most recognisable faces from the industry, and it was hilarious to see just how stunned everybody in attendance were when they realised he had signed up for the show. Thicke was visibly embarrassed not to have guessed correctly, revealing that he and Wayne had collaborated on songs at least five times in the past.
One of the earliest clues to Robot's identity came during a promo clip, where host Nick Cannon could be seen delivering some of the costumes. Robot was delivered to someone in cowboy boots, which many think is a reference to the American Music Awards mistake, where Lil Wayne was sent several country music awards that were supposed to go to the group Little Big Town.
A skateboard and a firetruck toy were shown during the video package on the show, which pointed to Lil Wayne's passion for skateboarding, as well as his song Fireman. The mention of "stunt" was in fact because of Lil Wayne's hit Stuntin' Like My Daddy, whilst the robot costume and the comment that he could come across as "inhuman" was a nod to his track, I'm Not Human.
When asked why a periodic table had appeared in his VT, Wayne replied that it was because of his multi-platinum albums.
It's clear that producers are going all out in bagging some big names for the third season of The Masked Singer US. Exactly whether or not they'll be able to reach the bar set by Lil Wayne in the coming weeks however, remains to be seen.
The Masked Singer US continues Wednesday on Fox, when Group A go into their playoffs following Robot's elimination.