Mustang on The Masked Singer thinks a last-minute switch led to her early exit

Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Masked Singer season 9 premiere.

The Masked Singer kicked off its ninth season on Wednesday night — and it did not disappoint.

Following the same format as last season, in which all but one contestant goes home each night, this episode introduced us to the first three costumes of the jam-packed season: Mustang, Gnome, and Medusa.

Mustang and Medusa went with songs that showed off their powerful vocals — "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake in the case of the former and "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish in the case of the latter. Gnome, meanwhile, pepped up the audience with a classic: Billie Holiday's "When You're Smiling."

The episode also introduced the season's big new elimination twist, the "Ding Dong Keep It On Bell." Even host Nick Cannon couldn't keep a straight face saying that name.

After panelist Nicole Scherzinger got in a great dig at Cannon — "somebody needed to tell you that, Nick" — Cannon explained the rules of the bell. "You can only ring the bell three times [in] the first three rounds. Those three saved singers will battle it out on a special episode to rejoin the competition," he said.

The new twist didn't factor into the premiere, so we'll just have to wait to see how all of that plays out. Unfortunately, this meant saying goodbye to two masks. First up was Gnome, and the panelists' guesses were all over the place, per usual.

Scherzinger and Robin Thicke were absolutely convinced it was Dustin Hoffman, but Ken Jeong made his case for it being Robert De Niro. Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, meanwhile, went with Tony Bennett.

In the run-up to the premiere, Fox had been touting that the episode would feature "the most legendary, decorated, and beloved unmasking in history," and they delivered on that promise. Gnome took off his mask to reveal none other than Grammy, Emmy, and Tony winner Dick Van Dyke.

The reveal appropriately stunned the judges, in particular Scherzinger, who cried uncontrollably at the sight of the 97-year-old legend. "I just love you so much. The world loves you so much. This is such an honor to have you. I can't believe you're here," she told him. "You're our childhood. Greatest reveal ever," Jeong added.

As if Scherzinger didn't have enough to cry about, Van Dyke ended his appearance on the show with a performance of the beloved Mary Poppins song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

After he left the stage, it was time for the season's first Battle Royale performance against two powerhouse vocalists. Mustang and Medusa were tasked with performing their own take on "Diamonds" by Rihanna, but it was Medusa who ultimately won and now heads off to face two new masks next week.

When it was time for the final reveal, the judges once again couldn't quite figure out who was under the mask. Guesses ranged from Joan Jett (McCarthy-Wahlberg), to Pink (Jeong), to Suzanne Somers (Thicke), to Wynonna Judd (Scherzinger). In the end, the dark horse was revealed to be award-winning country music singer Sara Evans.

On Wednesday, EW sat down with Evans to get her thoughts on sharing the stage with the iconic Van Dyke, and the surprising last-minute switch she had to make on the show, which she believes was a factor in her early exit.

Michael Becker / FOX Mustang on 'The Masked Singer'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Was The Masked Singer an instant "yes" for you, or did you have to think about it?

SARA EVANS: I was instantly a "yes," because anytime that you have the opportunity to be on television, it's just great for everybody, great for the career, super fun, and I love doing stuff that's out of the norm for what I normally do. We spend most of the year on tour and doing concerts and then making records and writing, so I was so excited to do something different that would give me a fun boost for the beginning of the year.

You really sounded like a rocker up there. Did you want to do a country song, or was that not even an option for you?

So I was supposed to be on night two, on "ABBA Night," but somebody had to drop out. So they asked me to fill in for that person. And so I had to learn the Whitesnake song, and then "Diamonds" for the Battle Royale, the night before [we filmed]. Which was fine, because, I mean, everyone's heard the Whitesnake song, or at least if you're over 30, or whatever. So I did not choose that song, but it turned out to be absolutely perfect for me. And also I would have never done a country song, just because I think it would have been so, so recognizable. And I love to show people that I'm not just a country singer. I can literally sing any genre of music, and a couple of years ago I put out a covers album called Copy That, and we did crazy songs like "My Sharona" and "Come on Eileen." So just because I'm in the country genre, I still love to show people other colors and sizes of my voice, so to be able to do that one and to also be able to sing "Diamonds" was really cool. But they could not figure out who I was.

You mentioned that you kept your time on the show a surprise from your loved ones. Can you tell me about that?

Well, part of it was me just wanting to be careful, because I knew that I could trust my kids and my family, but I always worry about people making mistakes like, "Oh s---, I wasn't supposed to tell anybody!" You know, that kind of deal. And so I waited as long as I could to tell them. So the kids know now, and we're watching it tonight, but they don't know what to expect. I've tried to keep everything hidden from them. So I think they're gonna be like, just in awe of the whole thing.

Did you have any idea that you were up there with Dick Van Dyke?

No. And when I found out, I literally sobbed my head off. Like, sobbed. Because I am such a fan of The Dick Van Dyke Show. I've literally watched every episode 20 times over. Like, it's just bizarre that that was the case, because I'm the biggest fan in the world. So I started sobbing, sobbing. I couldn't believe it. My entire career, every time we check me into a hotel, I have used the name Laura Petrie [played by Mary Tyler Moore on The Dick Van Dyke Show] for my codename. So isn't that crazy?

That's wild. I guess now you probably can't use that, though.

Exactly. [Laughs] I can't use it anymore.

Jason Kempin/Getty Images Sara Evans

Were you sad to leave the show so soon?

I was sad. I was really upset initially, because I felt, well, that wasn't fair. Because, you know, if I had done ABBA night, and everybody was also doing ABBA, I probably could have stayed on longer. But then at the same time, I was missing my kids and I have so much going on in my career. So I was like, you know, God knew exactly what to do and the perfect amount of time that I needed to be involved. So I'm very grateful.

What's next for you?

I'm probably gonna go in the studio around April and start a new album. And it's gonna win a Grammy because it's so good. And the songs are amazing. It's really country. I'm so excited about it. So that's going to be a big part of our year, because you know, all of the promotion, photo shoots and video shoots. And then we're also on tour and we usually do about 70 to 80 shows a year. So it's just busy, busy, busy.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

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:

• Legendary actor behind Masked Singer's Gnome on shocking reveal and making people cry

• See the new Masked Singer season 9 costumes, from the mythological to the mystical

• Everything we know about The Masked Singer season 9