Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer's Thanksgiving episode "Peanuts Night." Stream it with a Hulu subscription and read at your own risk!
While I think The Masked Singer's "Peanuts Night" was sorely lacking in songs tied to Charlie Brown and crew, I still think the holiday episode was a massive success for Fox. The network already has me looking forward to more holiday episodes hitting the 2025 TV schedule, especially after an unexpected cameo from a major director that was handled quite wonderfully.
Before this episode, I thought I'd seen enough shocking reveals on The Masked Singer that nothing would stun me. Now, I'm eating crow with a side of pumpkin pie after being as shocked as I've ever been by seeing a celebrity wasn't even under any of the masks. Let's talk about it.
Taika Waititi Made A Surprise Appearance As "Rita Ora's Husband"
The Masked Singer's Thanksgiving special featured a video segment with holiday messages recorded by the cast's family for the host and panel. We saw messages from a few of Nick Cannon's many children, Ken Jeong's wife, Robin Thicke's children, and Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg's husband, Blue Bloods star Donnie Wahlberg, and their kids. We also saw Rita Ora's significant other appear, and while he was only referred to her "Husband" in the episode, many know him quite well as director and actor Taika Waititi.
Yes, Rita Ora is married to the director who brought us Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit, What We Do in the Shadows and so much more. So anyone who thought they might've recognized him but weren't aware of their marriage or hilarious scaring videos together on social media, now you know.
'I'm sure some of the viewers watching The Masked Singer may not even have known he was anyone of note at all, and thus had no reason to consider "Rita Ora's husband" as being anything but an apt descriptor.
Why I Love How The Masked Singer Handled Featuring Him
There was a chance for The Masked Singer to brag and name-drop Taika Waititi as being part of their show, and I think the Fox series probably would have pulled that kind of promotional move in earlier seasons. He's a big deal in Hollywood, and with the episode airing on Thanksgiving and potentially drawing more viewers who don't regularly tune in, I could see the temptation to feature as many worthy names as possible in promos.
I credit the show for resisting the temptation to the point that Taika Waitit wasn't given any more notability than any other family members who appeared in the segment. Despite being a Hollywood director who may or may not be working on an upcoming Star Wars movie, he's just Rita Ora's husband when it comes to The Masked Singer,
Plus, the series had to close out its Group C Finals and didn't have time for everything it already planned. Royal Knight was eliminated and revealed to be actress and singer Jana Kramer, and Sherlock Hound was former baseball star turned singer Bronson Arroyo. That means Strawberry Shortcake will advance to the quarter-finals of Season 12 and move one step closer to winning The Masked Singer.
The Masked Singer continues on Fox at its normal time on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. I'm ready to see who will win this season and hope to find my front-runner pick as the quarter-finals approach.
