EW's The Masked Singer season 3 predictions: Gronk, Drew Carey, and other celebs under the masks
With one episode down of The Masked Singer season 3 and one group of contestants that have already performed, it’s time to make our first round of predictions. EW was right on the money with our guesses last season, which gives us a boost of confidence going into this new installment.
We started the season with a bang, as superstar Lil Wayne was revealed to be Robot in Sunday’s premiere. A celebrity of that caliber raises the stakes and widens our pool of possible stars for the rest of season 3.
The premiere introduced us to six Group A contestants. With Wayne out of the competition, we have our predictions for the remaining five based on the clues and the performances. As always, there are some we’re sure about, like Rob Gronkowski as White Tiger, and some we’re a little less certain about, like Kangaroo. Find out our reasoning below and weigh in with your guesses in the comments!
White Tiger
Pull the lever (or mask), Gronk! We’re 100 percent sure it’s you. A clue about clam shucking combined with the beginning of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address “four score and seven years ago” (which adds up to 87) led us straight to Rob Gronkowksi (nicknamed “Gronk” by his fans), who was No. 87 on the New England Patriots before he retired. Other numerical hints were the 51 on the clam trophy (he was a Super Bowl 51 champ) and the poster with the date “5/3,” which could either be a reference to also winning Super Bowl 53 or the stat that out of five Super Bowls the Pats were in while he was on the team, he won a ring in three of them.
There are also multiple references to wrestling and the ring — Gronkowski is a huge wrestling fan and even appeared on WWE’s Wrestlemania 33. Finally, at the end of the clues clip, White Tiger said, “Let’s party!” which could be a nod to Gronk’s reputation as a hard partier.
As The Masked Singer’s costume designer told EW, the celebrity under the mask fit perfectly with the White Tiger “warrior character.”
“I embraced and embodied who I was working with and how can I make this such a big stage presence and also create this really inspiring character that just takes over the entire atmosphere of the stage?” Marina Toybina said. “We ended up with this incredible White Tiger Egyptian god of all gods.”
“God of all gods” is a huge shoe to fill, no doubt, but Gronk’s career and persona do fit Toybina’s description. Football could definitely be described as a warrior sport with how aggressive and physically demanding it is, and Gronk is known for his energetic and larger-than-life personality.
On Sunday’s premiere, White Tiger rapped Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” which sounded just like when Gronk rapped on The Late Late Show With James Corden’s “Drop the Mic” segment. The last nail in the coffin was his enormous stature at 6’6″ (he appeared way taller next to 6’0” host Nick Cannon), and the fact that in the clue package White Tiger said he’s a “big ole scaredy cat” on stage, meaning that he’s not a professional performer. Boom, it’s Gronk.
Turtle
We think it’s Jesse McCartney underneath the hard-rock shell of Turtle. The surfboard in the clue package might be a nod to his 2005 Teen Choice Award, which comes in the form of surfboards, but more likely a reference to the teen drama series Summerland, which starred McCartney and even featured the actor surfing on the show.
Turtle mentioned in the clue package competing with others for “the dream,” and seeing many of those stars “fizzle out.” As a former teen heartthrob, it would make sense that McCartney was surrounded by other stars who couldn’t parlay early success into a long career. References to the dream could also be explained by McCartney’s time in the boy band Dream Street, while the “step by step” line is the famous New Kids on the Block song. McCartney once opened for NKOTB, plus he had a song on the Step Up 3D soundtrack. He also put out a song called “Runnin,” which is a nice tie-in to the clue package’s track and field theme.
McCartney is 5’9″ and on stage Turtle seemed shorter than Cannon. Lastly, Turtle’s voice sounded just like McCartney. Don’t believe us? Just listen to “Beautiful Soul” (as if we needed an excuse to blast this classic bop).
Llama
We could not be more positive that Drew Carey is under the Llama mask. There are about a thousand hints pointing to the comedian, but we’ll break down the most important ones. Right off the bat in the clue package, Llama says “Mi mi mi mi mix it up,” and The Drew Carey Show had a main character named Mimi Bobeck, played by Kathy Kinney.
Then the clues showed a radio station called 23.3 The Wool. There were 233 episodes of The Drew Carey Show, which ended in 2004. Carey’s birthday is also the 23rd of May. Additionally, he hosts a weekly rock program on Sirius XM’s “Underground Garage” show.
The “have a laugh” and “what’s funnier than a llama” hints mean Llama is likely a comedian, which builds our case. Then, a green Buddha statue was shown, and guess what? Carey is a Buddhist. A jack and an ace of spades were later flashed on screen, and The Price Is Right host has competed in celebrity poker tournaments. An album called “Sounds of Seattle” was also displayed, which could be a nod to Carey’s part ownership of the Seattle Sounders FC. And finally, have you noticed that Llama sported a camera around his neck? Carey is an avid photographer and he’s even been seen on the sidelines of U.S. National Team soccer games as a press photographer.
Miss Monster
Miss Monster’s voice? That’s absolutely Chaka Khan. Fans have mentioned Tina Turner as another possibility, but there’s no denying the contestant’s vocals sounded just like the Queen of Funk’s. A lot of hair products were also shown, and Khan has her own wig line. There was also a key with a keychain that said “fun” so fun-key as in funky, get it? The clue package took place in a school, with Miss Monster’s locker being No. 10. Khan has 10 Grammy Awards and is a legendary singer, which explains the “Monster Hits” sticker as well.
Miss Monster has been playing up a cute crush on season 1’s Monster, but we’re less sure about Khan’s connection to the man inside that mask, T-Pain, although she did present him with a BET Award in 2009. Maybe there were sparks?
Last season, many fans believed Flower sounded just like Patti LaBelle but weren’t convinced someone of her level would compete on the show. Lo and behold, it was LaBelle under the mask, which means we can’t use that same line of logic for season 3. It could very well be acclaimed singer Chaka Khan under the Miss Monster costume.
Kangaroo
Kangaroo was the hardest one to guess, by far. There’s one person that fits all the clues, yet we’ve never heard her sing — Jordyn Woods. In the clue package, Kangaroo said she was a “survivor” who “recently lost a person who held my family’s heart together. Then, by my own admission, I found myself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons,” she said, as paparazzi snapped photos of her. Finally, an old school gramophone was shown, and Kangaroo stated “I have to fight for my family and show them that bullies never win.”
Woods lost her father in 2017. He was a sound engineer (explaining the gramophone image). She found herself in the public eye last year when it was reported she kissed Tristan Thompson, the boyfriend of Khloé Kardashian, who is the sister of Kylie Jenner, Woods’ then-best friend. She caught a lot of flak for the incident, which fits the “spotlight for all the wrong reasons” and “bullies” hints. (Woods said she was “bullied by the world” in the aftermath of the cheating scandal.)
Check back as the show continues and we make our predictions for the rest of the contestants.
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