An American singing sensation and a controversial radio jock were ‘unmasked’ on the Masked Singer Australia last night.
But one was allegedly reluctant to go on the show, and the other was reluctant to leave.
Nobody, including his own co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, picked Kyle Sandilands as the special guest celebrity under the Paw Patrol ‘Rubble’ dog costume.
Guesses from the judging panel of Danni Minogue, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes and Urzila Carlson included Russell Crowe, Anthony LaPaglia and Guy Pearce.
“When you were singing, there was a flash of you in my mind, but then I was like, ‘No’. You never even let on once,” Henderson told Sandilands.
“We work together every morning, I‘ve been telling you about Masked Singer every day. All the while, you knew you were gonna be on it!”
Sandilands told news.com.au the one-act cameo on the show was the only way he would participate.
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“They rang me at the beginning of the season and said ‘You’re the first person we’re asking,’ and I said ‘NO. WAY.’,” Sandilands told the outlet.
After some negotiation, the idea of one guest appearance was considered.
“I thought, I can definitely pull off one song,” he said.
“Otherwise I was going to be trapped, committed to doing it every week.”
Later in the episode, the official contestant reveal was US soul singer Macy Gray, best-known for her 1999 release ‘I Try’, under the Atlantis costume.
The judges were wrong with their guesses for Atlantis, too, picking everyone from Delta Goodrem and Rihanna to former Playschool host Noni Hazelhurst, despite Gray having one of the most recognisable voices in the music industry.
“I knew it when I heard your voice! I said, ‘That‘s Macy Gray!'” said Carlson, whose final guess was actually Goodrem.
Hughesy shared some insider gossip from the show on his 2Day FM breakfast show with co-hosts Ed Kavalee and Erin Molan this morning, saying Gray begged to remain on the show.
“Macy Gray had such passion for the Masked Singer Australia that when she was told that she had to leave the show, which you saw last night, she refused to leave the show,” he said.
“She said ‘No, I’m continuing in the show’ and there had to be a discussion which went for quite a while as to ‘No, you have to leave’. She said ‘No, I’m not leaving’.”
Kavalee, Molan and Hughes discussed the possibility of Gray wanting to extend her contract on the show, which falls in stark contrast to British actor Vinnie Jones, who couldn’t wait to leave.
“She was very gracious on air, a real professional. But off air, wanted to stay. Vinnie Jones, you couldn’t get him out quicker,” Hughes joked with his colleagues.
