‘The Masked Singer': Scarecrow Says Competing Was ‘An Incredible Gift’ That Let Her Entertain and Do Some Good
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Wednesday night’s episode of “The Masked Singer” brought an unprecedented unmasking, when Scarecrow opted to unmask herself after just one performance. But, according to the star underneath, coming on the show was never about the competition; it was about taking the chance to have some fun while also doing some good in the world.
At the end of the night, Scarecrow unmasked herself to reveal that she was none other than “The Exorcist” star Linda Blair. The move shocked not only the judges, but host Nick Cannon, who she cut off mid-sentence in order to pull it off. After taking off her pumpkin head, Blair gave a lengthy speech, explaining that she came on the show to call out for help in rescuing animals throughout the country, especially in the wake of severe storms in places like Buffalo, New York.
Blair has been a rescuing animals herself since 1997, and in 2006 created her nonprofit “Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation.” The organization’s mission “is to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home shelter animals while also focusing on educating the public on important life threatening issues plaguing the animal community today.” So, when “The Masked Singer” called her up, Blair knew she couldn’t say no.
“I thought it was quite an incredible gift from the universe to give me an opportunity that I could go and entertain and say ‘I’m still here. Help me to help them,'” Blair explained to TheWrap. “I can entertain if we can fix the problem. And it’s at such a crisis level, I needed to reach out and work really hard for the performance. It was hard!”
Blair noted that she’s known judge Robin Thicke since he was a child, and expressed her love for the other judges as well. Her goal, she says, was to make judge Ken Jeong wonder why he was being poked at by a performer he had no connection to. She appreciated the joy they all brought her.
“I love the show, because it was taking me away from my sadness that we live in in rescue,” she said. “We are so stressed and so sad, and work so hard. And, you know, the show gave me an hour a week to forget my sadness. And that’s what I said in my speech. And that, I thank the panelists for bringing goodness, kindness — nobody said, you know, bad things. I appreciate Fox for keeping an upbeat family show. And that’s what we need more of. We need more upbeat family stuff.”
In the end, Blair never had any hopes of winning the whole competition. She had her eyes on a bigger prize.
“I hope by doing the show, asking myself to do something that was so different for me, that I could get the public’s attention and the press to help me to help them,” she said. “I knew I couldn’t continue on with the competition. I wanted the other artists to have their day in the sun. And it was really such a fun, amazing opportunity. And I pray that we’ll get some results, you know, to get help for the animals.”
The semi-finals of “The Masked Singer” kick off tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
