Spoilers ahead for the February 20 episode of The Masked Singer on Fox.
The stakes are higher than ever on The Masked Singer, and the penultimate episode had the group of contestants narrowed down to five: Peacock, Monster, Lion, Rabbit, and Bee. Gone are the days of football players and sportscasters trying their hardest to belt tunes; professional singers seemed to be behind the masks this week, and the competition was fierce. This was also the first week of double elimination, which meant two singers would be revealing their identities.
As it turns out, one of those identities totally shocked the judges, and it just so happened to be Lion. The woman beneath the Lion mask who has been killing her performances all season is none other than Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. Take a look at the reveal!
Now, to be fair, the judges (and guest panelist Kenan Thompson) were the ones who were totally shocked, but that's not the case for everybody. Many folks on social media came to the conclusion that Rumer Willis was likely beneath the Lion's mask, so viewers watching from home probably weren't as amazed as the judges. Their guesses ranged from former Destiny's Child singers Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams to Dawn Robinson to Hailee Steinfeld, with Nicole Scherzinger saying that she had to be a "white Kelly Rowland."
Basically, none of them even came close to guessing Rumer Willis. Maybe they need to employ a team of Twitter sleuths next time! Rumer Willis earned her spot in the top 5 thanks to the voice that landed her a starring role in a Broadway production of Chicago, and she revealed that she wanted to come on The Masked Singer to prove that she can sing as well as dance. She may not have won the first season, but I'd say she definitely proved herself! See her final performance:
The second unmasking of the episode wasn't nearly as much of a surprise. Although Rabbit has been impressing judges and audience members all season, his rendition of "My Girl" didn't impress them as much as what the other contestants performed, and he was unmasked. Congratulations to all the fans who picked up on a former boy band member under the bunny ears, for it was none other than Joey Fatone!
Viewers and judges have been guessing former NSYNC singer Joey Fatone for weeks, and both Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke named him as their final guess this week. Kenan Thompson stayed in the boy band box with his guess of Nick Lachey, who made a name for himself as lead of 98 Degrees.
Ken Jeong thought Rabbit came from NSYNC's rival band Backstreet Boys as the one and only Kevin Richardson. As for Jenny McCarthy, she swung for the fences and guessed that her husband was beneath the mask. As funny as it would have been if Donnie Wahlberg was indeed the Rabbit all along, Joey Fatone was the one.
Who is next? Find out when the Season 1 finale of The Masked Singer airs February 27 on Fox. In a twist that surprised nobody who kept an eye on the show's ratings, Fox has already renewed The Masked Singer for Season 2. There's no official date for the next batch of masked singers, however, so swing by our midseason TV premiere schedule for some viewing options sooner rather than later.
