“The Masked Singer”'s Miss Cleocatra was 'still on a little morphine' amid accident recovery while performing

"I was still in a lot of pain, and I was still on the walker, but 'Masked Singer' said they'd take care of me, and they did," she says.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Masked Singer, season 11, episode 8, "Girl Group Night."

This one's for the girls — the girl groups, that is.

Indeed, Wednesday's episode of the The Masked Singer was Girl Group Night, and the panel — made up of "Pun Spice" (Robin Thicke), "Clue Spice" (Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg), "Glam Spice" (Rita Ora), and "Doc Spice" (Ken Jeong) — kicked things off with a fitting performance of "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.

Keeping with the theme, the show also had singers from girl groups — Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips and Raven-Symoné from the Cheetah Girls — assist with onstage clues by taking turns singing what the show called "clue-e-oke."

It was a night full of surprises, with the final wildcard of the season, Seal, also finally being introduced.

Naturally, the contestants all had to sing songs made famous by girl groups. To that end, Miss Cleocatra sang “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue, Beets sang “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters, Gumball sang “Wide Open Spaces” by the Chicks, and Seal sang “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips.

The girl group hits continued when Miss Cleocatra and Seal were sent to the smackdown to sing their different takes on "Waterfalls" by TLC. But in something of a shock, for the first time this season, the wildcard was not sent home immediately after being introduced, and unfortunately, Miss Cleocatra gave her final roar on the Masked Singer stage on Wednesday.

For the second week in a row, Jeong was the only member of the panel to correctly guess that Miss Cleocatra was none other than prolific film, TV and Broadway actress Jenifer Lewis. (Other guesses included Roberta Flack and Loretta Devine.)

Before the big reveal, EW spoke with Lewis about why her friends encouraged her to do the show amid recovery from a horrific accident in which she fell 10 feet off a balcony while during a trip to Africa, how it helped her get her "legs back," provides a Sister Act 3 update, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Were you familiar with The Masked Singer before signing on to do it?

JENIFER LEWIS: Absolutely not. I never watch television. I'm busy writing books. I'm busy studying lines for the next gig. I made a conscious decision not to watch television. I will turn on some nature shows. I love nature, I love animals. But I'm at an age where time is precious and I use it to create mostly. I'll turn on something every once in a while, but no, I don't watch television. So I didn't know anything about the show. I didn't even see the last three episodes. I didn't even see the last three seasons of [her show] Black-ish. I just don't watch TV and I rarely watch myself. I may watch myself once, but The Masked Singer was different. Once I started watching, I couldn't stop because it's fun. It's just so much fun. And I don't know if you heard about my accident in Africa. They called me when I was convalescing and my friends encouraged me [to do it].

I couldn't walk yet, and I was still on a little morphine. I've been telling everybody, if you look closely when I'm sitting on the throne, you'll see that cat head kind of nod off a little bit. They were like, "Take it off!" And I was like, "Huh, what am I? Who's taking off what?" [Laughs] But anyway, yeah, my friends encouraged me. They said, get out of bed and go do what you love to do. Get up. I think it was only five months after the accident [when I got the call], I was still in a lot of pain and I was still on the walker, but Masked Singer said they'd take care of me, and they did. When I was singing "Stormy Weather," they had bolted me down to the floor in a harness.

Really?

Well, you could see I was only using my torso in "Stormy Weather." And with my last song you'll see, I never let go of the mic stand. It was bolted down because I couldn't walk. I was kicking a little bit, but very low. It's hard to stop Jenifer Lewis when she starts performing, even if she's got one leg. [Laughs] It was a great experience. I had fun. I mean, who puts Jenifer Lewis in a mask?

Everyone always says in these interviews how hard it is to see and move in those costumes. You're very brave for getting out there like that.

It was a challenge, but that's kind of what I'm made of. That's why I came back as quickly as I did, because I'm an athlete. I swam, I cycled, Pilates, yoga. I read Laurence Olivier's book when I was in my 20s, and there's a line where he says, if you want to be an artist, you've got to take care of yourself. Sometimes one little thing will jump out at you and stay in you, and that was one thing I picked up that. I read Frank Sinatra's where he said, talent will out. They can't take it from me.

What did you make of the costume?

Well, the reason I said make me Cleopatra is because I knew I could be carried out on the stage, because I couldn't walk. And you see, they had me on a throne or the boys were holding me up. But then they of course came up with Cleocatra, which I just thought was so funny. And I loved it. The costume was beautiful. They are really creative over there. I mean, those are real artists, and the head was light, but of course, it was restrictive for somebody who moves their body as much as I do. But here we go. I couldn't move it like I usually do anyways.

Ken is usually one of the worst at guessing, but he was so sure it was you. How did you feel about that?

He knew immediately. But I'll tell you another thing: my guess is, 3 million other people knew also. I can't hide this voice no matter what I do. People know this voice.

And your laugh. I saw a lot of people online saying, "I know that laugh."

Gotta keep laughing.

That's such a great thing to be known for.

It is. I am flattered by it. People imitate me. Oh my God. I can't tell you how much I laugh when somebody's imitating me. The interview I just did with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America about the accident, this one comedian, she wrote, "Can Auntie be more dramatic?" And then she goes [imitating herself dramatically], "Robin Roberts, I fell on sharp rocks, Robin. Oh, Robin, I fell away." Oh, I laughed so hard because, I'm sorry, I am dramatic. But I studied theater. What else am I supposed to do? I'm the baby of seven children. What else am I supposed to do?

We love Sister Act, so I have to ask, do you have any updates on Sister Act 3?

I was on The View, and Whoopi [Goldberg] was like, "We're going to do that movie, right?" I was like, "Yeah, of course we got to do that!" I was thinking, which one? But yeah, it's coming. My guess is it's coming. If Whoopi Goldberg believes in it, we're coming. She and I have been friends a long time. I saw her when she first started out, and when I went to see her comedy show, I was a young comedian myself. And when I saw her, I sat in the audience thinking, well, my career is over. She was so wonderful. And we met when we were both very young. We've done three movies together, and we've stayed friends. I've spent some holidays with her, and I don't know if you saw the one about me and Liza Minnelli at her house on Thanksgiving, and there was no piano. I ran up to her room. I said, "Are you insane? You've got Jenifer Lewis and Liza Minnelli at your house for Thanksgiving." The next morning on Thanksgiving, a grand piano was delivered. But that's Whoopi for you.

You've done so much in your career, but this still feels like a new experience for you — what did you get out of your Masked Singer experience?

It's the kids now. I'm performing for the kids. They don't know anything about the Broadway shows I did back in the '80s, but now they know. Here's auntie, here's Jenifer Lewis, and she's a lot of fun. She's got a little talent. But most of them were raised with me as the aunt on Fresh Prince, the mother in all the movies, and then the grandmother on Black-ish. So they know me and they will see me in a new light because most of them don't know I sing. It's all good stuff to me. It all came together, singing on national TV, and being unveiled... and fun. It was fun. And it did inspire me to do more physical therapy with more gusto, to get back. I needed my legs back, and I got them. So, happy girl.

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:

• Masked Singer's Starfish on her wipeout that the cameras didn't catch: 'It took 8 guys to pick me up'

• Ugly Sweater on The Masked Singer wants to work with Taylor Swift next 'to see what that's like'

• The Masked Singer season 11 reveals: See which stars are under the masks

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.