FOX’s “The Masked Singer” had it’s 9th season debut Wednesday, February 15, and by the time the episode was over, had unmasked a much-loved Disney Legend.
The Details
The premise of the show is celebrities compete while singing in elaborate costumes that disguise their identity.
After performing Billie Holiday’s “When You’re Smiling,” the contestant disguised as a Gnome was the first to get axed. Guesses to his identity included Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, and Tony Bennett.
It turned out to be, as the show hyped, “the most legendary, decorated, and beloved unmasking in history,” when the Gnome was unmasked and turned out to be none other than Tony, Emmy, and Grammy-winner Dick Van Dyke.
That’s right, Dick Van Dyke.
Panelists Robin Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, and Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg started screaming in excitement, with Scherzinger getting so overwhelmed she started crying.
And to make the evening that much more fun, Van Dyke sang a little bit of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” before he left the stage, with the audience singing along.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Disney Legend explained why he chose to do the show:
“Well, when they asked me to do it, I had never seen it. So I looked at it on the air and it looked like fun. And I was so positive that nobody would ever guess it was me, that they would have somebody 97 years old on there. And the experience was weird, because they have to keep it a secret from the crew. So I walked around with my head covered with people leading me.”
And now he can cross this off his list.
The Performance
Did you get to see him perform on the show? Let us know what you thought in the comments. If you didn’t see it, here is a snippet of his performance: