Jaws dropped and hands went up in the air after the unveiling of Mantis on “The Masked Singer.”
Medusa, Gargoyle and Mantis, who had previously been saved during the current ninth season, faced off during “Battle of the Saved” night on April 26. During Wednesday’s episode, two contestants were unmasked — with one leaving the panelists speechless.
When it came to finding out who Mantis was, Robin Thicke first guessed Dennis Quaid, Nicole Scherzinger thought it was Steve Buscemi, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg figured it was Kevin Bacon, and Ken Jeong said it was Brendan Fraser.
They were all wrong — it was “La Bamba” star Lou Diamond Phillips.
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“Robin…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a reaction out of you like this,” host Nick Cannon said.
Thicke said, “I love Lou Diamond Phillips. When I was right at that young boy age, two of my favorite movies were ‘La Bamba.’ My god, that movie had a huge impact on me. I listened to the soundtrack daily. And then ‘Young Guns,’ that was my thing.”
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The singer added that he was not expecting to see Phillips but all the memories of growing up, watching and admiring the actor crept up. “What an honor to have you here.”
McCarthy Wahlberg also said that she and her husband, Donnie Wahlberg, were recently chatting about him because the actor worked on “Blue Bloods.”
Still stumped, Scherzinger quipped, “We feel really stupid, Nick.”
Phillips, meanwhile, shared that his 15-year-old daughter Indigo made him want to join the show because she and her friend “watched this show religiously.”
“But you guys have had just such wonderful, surprising, ridiculous guests,” he continued, adding in part, “So it has been a joy. It has been a joy to be on his show.”
The panelists also incorrectly guessed who the Gargoyle was. While many guessed athletes, the NFL player under the mask was Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen.
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“I was so close,” Thicke said, after guessing fellow Charger Joey Bosa.
Allen shared how he’s “always had a passion” for singing and was bummed that he had to leave the competition.
“Growing up, I always been in choir. My mom made me sing all the time,” the athlete said. “Definitely always had a passion for it. I love singing around the homies, to the ladies, of course.”
He added that he was “way more nervous” being on stage than on a football field. “I was trying not to go home,” he said. “I didn’t want to go home.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
