*Warning: Spoilers ahead*
Last week, the contestants on The Masked Singer were back to business and we found out who was headed to the “Battle of the Sixes.” However, yesterday, we had to say goodbye to one of the show’s strongest competitors and even got the inside scoop as to what goes on behind the scenes.
Kitty started things off by putting her own twist on “Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend” by Marilyn Monroe, followed by Rhino (who, in our opinion, gave his best performance to date) with his cover of Thomas Rhett's “Die a Happy Man.” Next up was Frog, who surprised the audience when he decided to ditch the hip-hop and sing Imagine Dragons' “Whatever It Takes.” Night Angel seriously impressed the judges (especially Jenny McCarthy) with a jaw-dropping performance of “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles, before Astronaut gave his rendition of One Direction's "Story of My Life.” Turtle ended the night with his version of Alessia Cara's “Stay.”
And, now, the results. Sadly, Astronaut will not be headed to the top five and revealed himself to be country star Hunter Hayes. This means another one of our predictions was absolutely correct! We (along with the rest of the internet) pegged the musician earlier this season.
And now that his time on the hit show is over (*insert crying emoji*), Hayes is wasting no time in opening up about his experience, specifically, why he opted for the Astronaut costume.
“In my music, I talk a lot about flying and I think music is flying, so I went with the astronaut,” the 28-year-old revealed in an Us Weekly exclusive. “I’m working on a three-part album trilogy and the second one is the unknown, so into the unknown and flying—it was a beautiful, poetic way of speaking to that.” Ah, makes sense.
The hardest part about being on the show? Making connections with the other contestants. “It’s all weird! Every step of it is bizarre, even if you want to make friends with other cast members, you can’t until you leave the show,” Hayes continued. “I never saw the stage or any of the spaces I worked in, until the last day. It was so strange.”
But perhaps the most revealing and interesting part of the “Wanted” singer’s interview, was what went down behind the scenes that the audience couldn’t see. “I’m standing backstage with the super nine—this 9-foot tall tiger and all these other characters. I wanted to talk to them, but couldn’t,” Hayes said. “There’s a lot of cryptic code sign language and fist bumps. Those were our interactions!”
We honestly couldn’t imagine being on a show where you couldn’t talk or interact with the rest of the cast for five months, but congrats on making it this far, Hunter.
The Masked Singer returns on Wednesday, May 6, at 8 p.m. PT/ET on Fox.
