Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg Teases an "A-Level" Reveal in 'The Masked Singer' Premiere

Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg

By design, The Masked Singer (returning tonight for its eleventh season at 8:00 p.m. on FOX) is meant to bring a lot of new. There are new celebrities, ranging over the years from award winners to reality TV stars to even a vice presidential candidate. There are new costumes, with absolutely incredible designs bringing animals, plants, and even things to life.

What has remained constant amongst a sea of variables are the judges, a quartet of celebs whose job is to look past the mask and see the star underneath. But even that formula will get a bit of "new" infused with the addition of Rita Ora to the panel for this season. And, according to fellow judge Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, when she heard the news of Nicole Scherzinger's replacement, it admittedly took her a minute to answer, fittingly, "Who is that?"

"At first, I wasn't that familiar with Rita," the actress and TV personality admits in an exclusive interview with Parade.com. "But a lot of people filled me in before she got there, and I was like, 'Oh my God, of course I know that song.' And, of course, they couldn't have picked a more perfect person to fill Nicole's shoes. She's well-schooled in the game. When you see her, it's gonna be like, 'Oh, she's been doing this forever.' Rita walks in, kills it every show."

Related: Everything to Know About the Most Recent Season of The Masked Singer

Season 11 will once again feature 16 celebrities donning disguises and taking to the stage, performing every week in the hopes of winning the Golden Mask Trophy. Throughout the season, the judges and audience alike are peppered with clues to their identity, which allows guesses to be formulated. And when they're eliminated, we see if those guesses are correct, as they're forced to unmask and reveal their identity. And according to McCarthy-Wahlberg, this season will be going hard from the get-go.

"Every year, if you've heard any of us panelists talk about this season, we say, 'This is the best season ever. This is the biggest celebrity season ever,'" she says. "You have the right to come up and yell at me if I'm telling a lie. Especially the first episode, you guys have to tune in. We are so shell-shocked. This is like, 'Do you get any higher than this person?' This person is so well-known, so lovable. This person made me realize that there is still hope that we can get Beyonce on the show. That's how A-level this opener is."

Check out our full interview with Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg below, where she also discusses her makeup line, Formless Beauty. The Masked Singer season 11 premieres tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.

Related: Everything to Know About Ken Jeong's Upcoming Talk Show

How are you doing right now, Jenny? I would compare it to Christmas morning with a new season of The Masked Singer on the way. But you already filmed the season a few months ago, so it's like Christmas all over again!
Pretty great. I mean, I really can't complain. I'm so excited that our show keeps getting better and better. My life's going great. I'm healthy. What more can I ask for?

So, I want to start by talking about Formless Beauty, the makeup company you founded in 2021. What made you decide to add the beauty industry to your resume?
One of the things that I thought we didn't need was another celebrity makeup line. But there was room, indeed, for me, and I'll tell you why. I've always been kind of vigilant when it comes to ingredients, especially after everything my son has gone through. And when I started to kind of look for a clean makeup line for myself to use, I was blown away by how many toxins are still in makeup. We've gotten rid of a lot of things. But for makeup, it hasn't been regulated in 80 years. So I'm like, "This is this is messed up. I don't trust any companies anymore. I don't trust our regulatory agencies. The only way I can trust something is if I build it from the ground up."

And I started with three glosses, I found a manufacturing company to work with me to go alongside the Environmental Working Groups guidelines. And EWG, for those that don't know, is an amazing resource. That is probably the only agency that is not captured. It anchors down and does good work for humanity. And so we use their guidelines, which is over 900 pages of unacceptable ingredients in makeup. It's really hard. That's why we roll out very slowly with my company, because everything has to be really clean and good, and we've got to figure out new ways to do it.

A lot of people would say you can't make mascara without heavy metals or forever chemicals. And, like, have you met me yet? I mean, my chemist probably wants to murder me. [Laughs.] But the good news is we're gonna be keeping women and men who wear makeup a lot longer. I'm so proud of this makeup line. Talc-free, no asbestos, your kids can play with it, because it's all-natural, good ingredients. You can actually eat it.

So this was something that's you can tell a huge passion project of mine. Because I want to know, I'm leaving behind something that is good and didn't try to [just] make the shareholders or stakeholders happy. I would be so much more profitable in this company if I didn't care, honestly. Because a lot of people buy makeup for the fact that it doesn't work or doesn't look good. I wanted both. I wanted to make the performance great, but also make the ingredients great. So I don't care about being the richest person in the world. I care about leaving behind riches in health.

Is there anything you'd like to tease regarding products coming up down the line?
We do have a couple of huge items that are launching next week. And the clues I can give, if I want to play Masked Singer. One of the clues is that this item is like chips. You can't just have one. The other slogan I have with the other item is "Be unapologetically glamorous." So those are my two little hints for you guys.

Related: Ken Jeong on 10 Years of 'Masked Singer': I Want This Feeling for the Rest of My Life

Well, let's segue into talking about The Masked Singer. As much new as we get every season, the big "new" thing to talk about here is judge Rita Ora. Talk to me about your first impression of her on the judges' panel.
At first, I wasn't that familiar with Rita. But a lot of people filled me in before she got there, and I was like, "Oh my God, of course, I know that song." And, of course, they couldn't have picked a more perfect person to fill Nicole's shoes. Nicole, I love. I can't wait to have Nicole back. She's my sister. I love her family. But the fact that I know that Nicole was off doing her dream job, which is singing on the West End, and we got to import Rita from the U.K. She did Masked Singer U.K. for those that don't know, so she's well schooled in the game. When you see her, it's gonna be like, "Oh, she's been doing this forever." Because sometimes guest stars come and they're like, "What kind of show is this? This is weird. This is crazy." They're not in tune with it. Rita walks in, kills it every show.

Do you have a dream guest judge you'd want sitting alongside you on The Masked Singer?
Besides my husband, who I want to do everything? I would love Beyonce to either be on the judges panel or singing.

Who would you pick between the two?
That's not fair! [Laughs.] I will say my husband will forgive me for saying Beyonce. Because he knows how much I love Beyonce. And he knows I can see him afterward. [Laughs.]

What can you tease us about this week's premiere of The Masked Singer season 11?
Well, listen. Every year, if you've heard any of us panelists talk about this season, we say, "This is the best season ever. This is the biggest celebrity season ever." You have the right to come up and yell at me if I'm telling a lie. Especially the first episode, you guys have to tune in. We are so shell-shocked. And I know we're always like, "Oh my God." But this is like, "Do you get any higher than this person?" This person is so well-known, so lovable. This person made me realize that there is still hope that we can get Beyonce on the show. That's how A-level this opener is, so don't miss it.

To that point, it's been interesting to watch not only The Masked Singer show so much staying power since it premiered, but also watch the level of celebrity that come onto this show only rise. Why do you think the show has attracted so many renowned stars to perform?
I'll tell you the secret weapon. The secret ingredient is they have children. They have children who love the show. So when they come on, we're like, "Why are you here?" They're like, "My kids. My kids love the show. I wanted to surprise my kids." Even this amazing first person that gets revealed on the first show says, "I did this for my kids. Got you!" So the way that they're playing the game and supporting their kids or surprising their kids is why we keep doubling down and leveling up.

Speaking of leveling up, it sounds like we'll have more epic theme nights this season, including "Wizard of Oz Night" and "Transformers Night." I imagine this is a great excuse to see some more epic costumes from you and the panel as well.
Well, I don't think anything's gonna beat Professor Dumbledore that I was last season. But during "Wizard of Oz Night" I get to be the Good Witch. Ken is the Cowardly Lion, perfectly fitting. Rita is Dorothy, of course. And I forget who Robin is. But we've got Billy Joel Night. We've got Transformers Night. So if you've got kids, you gotta tune into that. And then "TV Theme Song Night. "Oh my god. We did this once before. And it is one of the greatest shows. Because who doesn't want to sing along to those great songs? I think we can never have enough TV Theme Song Nights. Plus, I have Robin sitting next to me, whose dad wrote and sang a lot of those songs.

Of course, The Masked Singer is known for the Emmy-winning costumes that surround the talented celebs inside. If you were ever to be a contestant on the show, what costume would you want to wear?
I have mentioned this once before. I feel like Nicole said she wants to be sushi. LSushi is perfect for Nicole. You just see that sushi roll. I want to be a cheeseburger for many reasons. I'm a little meaty. I have good buns. I'm a little cheesy. And I married a Wahlberger!

You know, they don't typically look to costumes for clues. But you may be the exception.
Totally, I'd probably get busted. Although when they heard my horrific singing voice, I might be there a while. Because they might not know.

Next, find out how The Masked Singer got John Schneider through his "worst year."