The Masked Singer 's Doll reveals he insisted on wearing heels and is waiting for a call from RuPaul
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Warning: This article contains spoilers from Wednesday's episode of The Masked Singer.
Get out the popcorn and candy, because it's Warner Bros. Movie Night on The Masked Singer!
Unlike past themed nights, this week's episode didn't include any special guests, unless you count the panel, who were all dressed as various iconic movie characters. Extra kudos to Ken Jeong for bringing back his own character, The Hangover's Mr. Chow — voice, ridiculous cackle, and all.
However, to commemorate 100 years of the movie studio, the clue packages and songs were movie-themed, and it's highly likely that one of the two new contestants — Dandelion or Mantis — could be bonafide film stars. Only time will tell, of course.
Last week's champ, Doll, cast another spell on the opening of the show, kicking things off with "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley. That lively performance was followed up by a much more subdued, albeit emotional one by Dandelion, who brought her beautiful vocals to "Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland. Lastly, Mantis ended things with the same rockabilly sensibility that the show started with, this time with the song "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger.
The first elimination of the night was a bit of a shocker: Doll was sent back to its box. In what has become somewhat of an uncommon occurrence this season, no one got his identity correct, though the panelists weren't too far off. Nicole Scherzinger went with David Lee Roth, Jeong with Austin Butler (no, Ken!), Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg with Iggy Pop, and Robin Thicke with Gene Simmons.
In the end, Doll was unmasked to reveal Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. This sent Dandelion and Mantis to the Battle Royale, which was introduced with an old timey movie intro presented by Scherzinger.
The duo had to sing Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory tune "(I've Got a) Golden Ticket" by Jack Albertson and Peter Ostrum, with Dandelion ultimately weeding out her competition. Host Nick Cannon told us that this means she's heading to Masked Singer in Space Week (oh boy) and Mantis is forced to unmask.
However, at the last second, Thicke saved him, explaining that the contestant really tugged on his heart strings. Turns out, his first song, "Old Time Rock and Roll," was the panelist's late father Alan Thicke's favorite, and the Battle Royale song was also recently sung by the singer's son during a play.
And with that, the last save of the season has been used, and Mantis will now have to pray his way to a victory against Gargoyle and Medusa, who were saved earlier this season, for a chance to be added to the quarter finals.
Ahead, EW spoke with Snider, who revealed the hilarious reason he turned down the show in its first season, his thoughts on his drag-inspired costume (and expecting a call from RuPaul), and his brutally honest reaction to getting booted from the show.
Michael Becker/FOX Doll on 'The Masked Singer'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let's start at the beginning. Why do The Masked Singer?
DEE SNIDER: Well, actually, to tell a secret, I was asked season 1 to be on the show. And I said, "No, this show will never work." [Laughs] Nine seasons later, they said, "Will you be on it now?" "Yes, I'll be on it now." I did the same thing with Sharknado by the way. They asked me to be in Sharknado 1, I go, "Oh, this will never work." And then Sharknado 6 there I was in Romania dressed as a sheriff. And apologizing to the director. "You were right. You were right." So you gotta imagine I said no and all of a sudden this show it's just like, blowing up. Well, that was really a bad call. So I was glad to get asked to have another chance.
It was sort of a reverse jinx.
Yeah, exactly. It just shows you nobody knows; nobody gets it right all the time. Certainly not me.
You've talked in the past about being a sort of icon for the LGBTQ+ community and the drag community. With drag being under fire with all these anti-drag bills, did you think about that with this costume at all, which is a lot like drag?
One hundred percent. I am proud to say I am a gay icon. And I'm not gay, but to that community, that is not the point. The point is, was that I was willing to look the way I looked in the '80s and be defiant and say, "I'm gonna be who I am, whether you like it or not." And believe me, you know, I got a lot of pushback on that. And [on The Masked Singer] it was [on my mind] right down to where they said, "Well, we have these low shoes, or you can wear the pumps." And I was like, "Pumps, please!" I used to wear those like every night. I am master or mistress, whatever you want to call me, of the pumps, and I wanted to rock those because I love dressing up. And my only complaint is… okay, I got two complaints. Why Gayle King's body? I love Gayle King, I watch her every morning on CBS. But I was hoping for something a little more svelte. And then also, the other complaint is, when I agreed to wear those pumps, I didn't realize I'm gonna be wearing a huge headpiece. And I didn't realize how limited my vision was, you know. And when I was running around on stage as a kid wearing these high-heeled shoes, I could see my feet. I could see where I was going. Then all of a sudden [on TMS] I realize, oh my God, I am wearing super high shoes. They're like seven inches with a one-inch platform in the front, and I can't see where I'm going. So it was very precarious.
I'd be terrified of falling off the stage, I think.
Yes. And I had to pull back my natural performing tendency. People say, "Wow, you were really moving on stage." But what I would do normally and what I wanted to do was so much more, but with my limited range of vision, and wearing these high heels, there was a lot of obstacles, many edges of the stage to fall off of. There was gaps, there was wires, all kinds of things like that. So if I communicate anything to your readers, I'd say, appreciate that this is a very difficult thing for every single member of the cast who comes on that show. And we're out of our comfort zone. It's almost like a sensory deprivation situation when they put that headpiece on you. It is like, whoa, where am I? What am I doing? Where am I going? I can't see anything. You know, so it's tough.
So, speaking of drag, when I was doing research for this interview I saw that you tweeted late last year that you were asked to do Celebrity Drag Race but turned it down because you feel you've done your time "dolled up," and instead wanted to be a judge. But then here you are a few months later on The Masked Singer, dressed as a literal doll...
Damn you and your research! [Laughs] Again, wearing the face makeup and the hair and the costumes and the heels and all that stuff for so many years, with Celebrity Drag Race, I felt I should have been a judge. I feel I could have been a really good judge. So I did pass on that but then I agreed to Masked Singer, and they presented me with what they would like me to wear. And I go, "Here we go. I'm back wearing the heels." I could have said no [to being the Doll]. But they were really enthusiastic about the costume. I thought it was a bit of a hat on a hat actually. I mean, with Twisted Sister and all that… The clues were so strong. I'm surprised that the minute I walked out they didn't go, "Hey, Dee, what's up?" But they didn't get it. The judges got close but they didn't get it. But yeah, I was fighting the tide. I said, "Okay, they want me to get back into drag. I'm ready to do it. Let's go."
Well, speaking of being a judge, would you consider coming back to The Masked Singer to be a guest panelist?
I would love to. I have been doing radio and television hosting for decades now. So I'm really good at that side of things as well. So I would love to have that opportunity. It would be amazing. And I hope Drag Race reconsiders me being a judge. But then again, I think that Ru is gonna see me in those [Doll] heels and go, "Wait a minute. Get him on the phone." But who knows? Who knows where this will take me?
JC Olivera/Getty Images Dee Snider
You made it further than most do with this double elimination format they've been using on the show. Still, were you sad not to make it to another round?
Quite honestly I was shocked when they said my name. I don't know who the other performers are, but I heard them rehearsing and I wasn't too impressed. And the audience response to me was huge. So I was like, what?! [Laughs] But then the next [reaction] was, my wife was going by herself to Hawaii for a little vacation. I couldn't go with her because I was on the show. I was originally supposed to go. I was like, "Oh, I can go to Hawaii now? Yes! I'm going to Hawaii." So I was very elated. So when they asked how I felt, I had already gotten past the idea that I've gotten knocked out of contention. Apparently in Vegas they have odds on the show. Do you know that?
Oh yes. I get all the emails about it.
Yeah, so I was the odds on favorite for being the Doll. But I was also odds on for top three choice contenders to go all the way. So I mean, I thought I was gonna go all the way. You should have heard my [version of] "The Final Countdown." We were already rehearsing the next show. I crushed "The Final Countdown," but I never got to sing it.
What do you have coming up next that you're excited about?
Well, while everybody else was out partying in the '80s, I never did drugs and never drank. I sat in my room. After the success of the Twisted Sister videos that I wrote, I started getting into screenplay writing, and really working on that craft. My first fictional novel, called Frats, is coming out May 22 on Red Penguin Books. I've got a graphic novel called He's Not Gonna Take It coming out in June on Z2 Comics. And I'm going to be directing my first movie that I wrote — I write screenplays as well — it's called My Enemy's Enemy. And I should be starting production on that later this year. So I've been trying to get behind the cameras, out of the limelight. More just writing and creating from behind the scenes.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
