Warning: Spoilers for Wednesday’s episode of “The Masked Singer” follow.
The Fox outfoxed half of the judges in the Season 2 finale of the “The Masked Singer” Wednesday night.
After beating out the top-three contenders Flamingo and the Rottweiler, the Fox was revealed to be comedian and “Let’s Make a Deal” host Wayne Brady.
Judges Ken Jeong and Jenny McCarthy incorrectly thought he was Jamie Foxx. But both Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger guessed he was Brady, who previously worked with Scherzinger in a summer 2010 production of “Rent,” directed by Neil Patrick Harris, at the Hollywood Bowl in LA.
Before his big reveal, Brady choked up when talking to the judges and audience about his insecurities.
“I’m able to be blessed enough to make a lot of people happy, but I haven’t always been happy myself,” the 47-year-old actor said under his top hat and mask. “It’s taken me all this time to find my joy again, wearing a mask and having no preconceived notions from anyone about what I can do.”
He also wowed the room with a rap-infused version of Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness.”
“I love singing and dancing my tail off every week,” he added in a video greeting. “Winning will allow me to showcase my skills as a singer and finally write my own story.”
While Brady has previously used his vocal talents — most notably starring as Lola in the Broadway show “Kinky Boots” and playing Aaron Burr in the touring company of “Hamilton” in 2017 — the Emmy has never been fully recognized for his singing skills.
But after his unveiling, Scherzinger, 41, lavished her former coworker with praise.
“I’m over the frickin’ moon right now. This couldn’t have gone to a better, more deserving human and talent, superstar, super hero,” said the former Pussycat Dolls lead singer. “You slayed everybody — like, you was on other levels.”
Ahead of his unveiling, the show also revealed the other two contestants who made it to the finale, having been whittled down from the 16 original clandestine crooners over the course of the season.
The second-place finisher, the Rottweiler, was revealed to be “American Idol” Season 5 castoff Chris Daughtry. His unveiling seemed to shock the audience and the judges — none of whom guessed correctly — and even host Nick Cannon, who remarked, “Whoa! What a treat! Man, what in the world made you do this show?”
“I wanted to do something fun. I wanted to challenge myself,” said Daughtry, who turns 40 on Dec. 26. “I had no idea how challenging it was gonna be. I’m so happy I did it.”
And the third-place finisher, the Flamingo, was unmasked as “The Real” host and former Cheetah Girls member Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, 36, who was correctly guessed by McCarthy, Thicke and Scherzinger. (Jeong predicted the feathered finalist was Jessica Simpson.)
“This has been life-changing,” said the unmasked bird, who before her reveal shook more than a few tail feathers during a rocking rendition of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary,” adding, “I never thought I’d love performing again.”
“The Masked Singer” returns for Season 3 on Feb. 2, 2020, after Super Bowl LIV on Fox.
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