Nick Lachey Says His Kids Didn't Think He Was Cool Until The Masked Singer : 'Whatever It Takes'

Nick Lachey has finally been deemed cool by his three kids — thanks to his stint dressing up as a pig on live television.

The 98 Degrees singer, 48, and wife Vanessa Lachey, 41, appear on Friday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where the dad of three explains to guest host Stephen 'tWitch' Boss that his kids didn't think he was cool until he competed on The Masked Singer.

"Do your kids get who you are? Do they know that you're famous?" asks Boss.

"I think they're starting to," Nick says of his three kids, sons Camden, 9, and Phoenix, 5, plus daughter Brooklyn, 7. "But they don't care. I'll sing around the house and son's like, 'Dad stop singing, stop singing.' "

"And you say, 'My singing put a roof over your head,' " Vanessa quips.

"It's funny, they don't care about 98 Degrees, they don't care about any of that stuff. But when I did The Masked Singer, that was the moment that Dad became cool with the kids," Nick continues. "It took dressing up like a pig and singing on national television to be cool to my kids. Whatever it takes."

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Michael Becker/FOX; Paul Archuleta/Getty

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Nick was named the season 5 winner of The Masked Singer last May. "Daddy's coming home with a little hardware!" he declared on stage upon his win.

The singer, who performed as Piglet on the Fox reality competition, shared following his unmasking that his kids had wanted him to go on the show, but they didn't know he ended up actually doing it. Still, his daughter suspected Daddy had been under the pig outfit.

"We watched the premiere episode together and I was holding Brooklyn and I think I got two or three notes out of my mouth and she pointed to me, she goes, 'Daddy,' " Nick told PEOPLE after his win. "They recognized my voice immediately."

When Nick's wife Vanessa asked their three kids for ideas for the "What's Left of Me" singer's costume, Camden actually suggested a pig, "which was really funny because I had already chosen the pig," Nick said. "So it substantiated my selection."

The musician said at the time he told his kids he was performing as Piglet, but they weren't aware if he was going to win or not.

"So we watched the entire season and like, 'Is this the night Daddy goes home?' It's been a lot of fun to kind of share that whole ride with them. It became Masked Singer night in our house on Wednesdays and we all watched together and they nervously waited to see if I'd get unmasked that night," " he shared.