[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 11 premiere “Rita We Love Your Ora.”]
“If you don’t agree with me that this is one of the biggest A-list stars, then you can come smack me in the face,” panelist Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg told TV Insider with a laugh of the Masked Singer Season 11 premiere reveal. But did it live up to the hype?
Most of the premiere—which featured new panelist Rita Ora (with Nicole Scherzinger on the West End) joining McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Robin Thicke on the panel—was business as usual, with Goldfish, Starfish, Ugly Sweater, and Lovebird taking the stage for their first performances. Then came time for Book, and that was when things took a turn.
“I have stories for days and a vocabulary that’s really, what’s the word, good,” Book said to begin the clue package. He owes it to his mom. Among the clues were a detective badge, Animals 101 book, an Open Mic Night sign, and a ghost. As Book sang “So Sick” by Ne-Yo (last season’s winner), the panelists all seemed to know who he was and were laughing throughout the performance. “One of the most charming performances I’ve ever seen,” Thicke said. “It’s all about the fun,” Jeong added.
“I’m really pumped out. I’ve done a lot, but what I’m doing right now, this might be my most novel experience yet,” Book said. “I’ve been looking forward to this, it’s all I’ve been thinking about, and the fact that I was able to come out here and express myself, I’m just excited.” The panelists couldn’t stop laughing, and Thicke said that there are only a few people that have him smiling like he was when they walk into the room, naming Kevin Hart. That was when Book asked how he got out of the costume and unmasked himself.
Yes, it was comedian and actor Kevin Hart. The panelists went on stage and hugged him. “Kevin, you’re breaking the rule,” host Nick Cannon told his friend. “I got you, Nick,” Hart said. “This is a prank. You had no idea. You had no idea that I was coming here. And guess what, Nick? There’s nothing you can do about it.”
Cannon insisted it was “stupid” and called it “the worst performance in the history of this show.” Hart insisted that was on purpose. “You embarrassed yourself,” Cannon continued. “You ruined the freakin’ show,” since next up was voting.
“I’m trying to see if I have a little bit of care, because I don’t care,” Hart told him. “That’s not my problem. That’s your problem. This is me up on you. Kevin Hart 1, you nothing.” Watch the unmasking below.
Prior to the premiere, McCarthy-Wahlberg also told us, “The whole studio audience was gobsmacked. There’s not a person that doesn’t know who this person is, I’ll put it this way. There’s not a person who doesn’t love this person. Lovable, likable, huge on the Q-rating list of people knowing who’s who. That’s all I can say without giving it away.”
So what did you think of the Season 11 premiere reveal and Kevin Hart being Book? Let us know in the comments section, below.
The Masked Singer, Wednesdays, 8/7c, Fox
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
