Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 10 finale. Read at your own risk!
The Masked Singer closed out an epic Season 10, and it was as wild as expected. With four contestants in the finale, there was a lot to fill two hours of the show, and it was a real nail-biter until the winner was finally crowned. Cow stood tall among the rest, and after he was revealed to be pop superstar Ne-Yo, I'm not all that surprised he won. All that fun aside, there was one aspect of the season finale that had me bummed out, and it had nothing to do with the competition.
I was a bit sad that my prediction since Episode 2 that Gazelle, who turned out to be actress Janel Parrish, would win didn't pan out. It wasn't that, however, or the reveals of Sea Queen as singer Macy Gray or runner-up Donut as actor John Schneider that had me down. Instead, my thoughts were on the panel, and the realization that one of the best things about The Masked Singer might be coming to an end.
Season 10 Might Be The Final Time We See The Core Masked Singer Panel Together
While Nick Cannon confirmed The Masked Singer will return for Season 11, there will be one key change. Nicole Scherzinger will not return for the upcoming season, and it's unknown when or if she will return at all. It will be the first season since the beginning that the series had a different guest panel than the core four of Scherzinger, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Robin Thicke critiquing performances and giving clues.
Season 10 of The Masked Singer, with its wild theme nights tied to the NFL and Harry Potter, was a celebration of the series. This landmark season was a tribute to everything that came before and almost a capstone on what's ahead for a new era. When thinking about the current panel, that's kind of sad because everything they bring to the show as a team makes it so great.
First, Nicole Scherzinger leaves, and then what? Will Ken Jeong start getting correct guesses more often than his unexpected hot streak in Season 10? So much has gone right for this franchise so far I hate to think of anything changing that could jeopardize that going forward.
Why I Am Optmistic The Masked Singer Will Persevere Despite Panel Changes
I would say that The Masked Singer's greatest strength is being able to switch things up. Use a Hulu subscription to revisit the Season 10 premiere that felt like a throwback of sorts to the inaugural season, and it's wild just how much this show has changed. Hell, the show even went forward without Nick Cannon when he had COVID, so there's a case to be made it can carry on through any change.
Which is to say, perhaps my fear about seeing a member of The Masked Singer panel leave for an entire season is rooted in the fact that it hasn't happened yet. Maybe when Season 11 gets started I'll be more at ease, and realize it wasn't quite as big of a deal as it felt watching them all together in their corner for what could be the last time. I hope that's not the case, but we'll see!
The Masked Singer Season 10 is over at Fox, but Season 11 starts in March. Tune in then to see how the show raises the bar yet again and how it'll fare without having one of its founding panelists a part of the fun.
