Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Dancer Season 1 semifinals. Read at your own risk!
The Masked Dancer whittled its lineup down to the final three in the latest episode, sending home Zebra (legendary boxer Oscar De La Hoya) in a move I could've called last week. I've been pretty vocal that I thought Sloth was running away with this competition and would win the whole thing, and I was largely okay with that until I learned the prevailing theory about who the competitor is. Now that I'm aware there's evidence to support Sloth is an actual professional dancer, I'm beginning to think this series may be almost entirely unfair.
For those out of the loop, the current major theory is that the Sloth is none other than Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Those familiar with the name may best know him as one of the professional dancers on ABC's Dancing With The Stars. Known as "the bad boy of the ballroom," Maksim has won several professional dancing titles, as well as one victory in the ABC dance competition. While winning one time out of 17 seasons doesn't make him the most successful pro in DWTS history, it's noteworthy that his partners have placed in the Top 5 in nearly half those outings.
And, let's not forget that Dancing With The Stars is a show where the pro's performance is mainly reliant on that of an amateur. Had Maksim Chmerkovskiy been competing solo against a bunch of amateurs, it's hard to think he would've come in second place to any of them. Competing against amateurs may be exactly what he's doing here on The Masked Dancer if he's truly Sloth, though we don't know the identities of Cotton Candy and Tulip for sure.
What we do know is that none of the celebrities unmasked to date have been a professional dancer, and that's a significant disadvantage for them provided this theory is accurate. Dancing is an activity that anyone can do, but if we're looking at people who can pull it off with the most skill and finesse, it seems obvious that a proven champion can do it better than the average joe even under a mask.
Yes, I know The Masked Singer has and frequently still does the same thing having Grammy-winning singers on the series. I'll say from the start I felt it was unfair to have LeAnn Rimes on last season, but at least The Masked Singer typically picks singers who aren't in the spotlight as much anymore.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy may not be the dancer he once was, but at 41, it's still a huge part of his career, and I would say he clearly hasn't lost a step if he's Sloth. Of course, we don't know that for sure, though, but if it's true, then I'm going to be truly disappointed if he was the only professionally trained dancer in the competition.
The Masked Dancer airs Wednesdays on Fox at 8:00 p.m. ET. Obviously, it's clear who I believe will win, but if you have other thoughts in mind, be sure to share them down in the comments below.
