The Masked Singer is about to kick off its 10th season, and the show’s stalwart panelists don’t seem interested in stepping back any time soon.
ET’s Denny Directo got a chance to visit the set ahead of the show’s season premiere, where he spoke with panelists Jenny McCarthy and Robin Thicke — as well as host Nick Cannon — about the milestone season and how long they see themselves serving as panelists.
“I have 30 more seasons in me,” McCarthy said with glee, adding that being on the show’s 10th season “literally feels like a little bit of a dream.”
“I’m hoping this is a show that can go on and on, like American Idol,” McCarthy shared. “[And] why not? There are a lot of celebrities that can sing and are hiding it.”
For Thicke, the experience of being a panelist for so many seasons went by like a flash.
“It’s happened so fast. I can’t believe it, because it’s literally one of my favorite things to do in life, and that I’ve ever done in my career,” Thicke marveled. “Coming here with my friends and getting to watch these amazing performances and the craziness and the audience, it is so much fun.”
“And now we have a bigger audience than we’ve ever had before,” he added. “So it’s really a blessing on top of blessing.”
When asked about whether he’d want to be a part of the show for years to come, Thicke declared, “I’m down! Yeah, I’m down for 25 seasons. Absolutely.
“I’ve got four kids,” said Thicke. “So it’s a great schedule. You know, we shoot a couple months a year [and] I get the rest of the year to do whatever I want.”
Thicke and his fiancée, April Love Geary, share three kids — daughters Mia, 5, and Lola, 4, and son Luca, 2. He is also dad to 13-year-old son Julian, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Paula Patton.
For Thicke, being part of the show has helped him not only spend more time with his family, but also to grow as a person.
“I’ve learned a different side of myself,” Thicke said. “I think I really learned how to laugh at myself more, you know what I mean? And just, like, just be the butt of the joke more often. And I think that’s been very good for me.”
Cannon is also reeling at the success of the show, noting it’s “so exciting.”
“This is one of those things where I kind of wear it as a badge of honor, because a lot of people didn’t believe in [The Masked Singer] at first. And to know that we’re 10 seasons later of a show that was so zany, so wild that people didn’t understand [is great].”
Cannon said that, before joining The Masked Singer in its debut episode back in 2019, he was “kind of focused on more behind-the-scenes [work].”
“I was like, ‘If I do host something, it has to be something I’m having fun with. It has to be unique, that I could just show up and it doesn’t feel like work.’ Voila! The Masked Singer,” Cannon said.
For Cannon, being the host has also allowed him to build long-lasting connections with his colleagues.
“We come together and we get to operate in a way in which we’ve all known each other before this show, but this show has really brought us together in a way that, now, I can’t imagine my life without them,” Cannon shared with a smile.
As for the longevity of The Masked Singer and it’s enduring popularity with its superfans, Cannon said he thinks it’s because the show “keeps getting better.”
“I think it has become a staple in pop culture at this point,” he shared. “I mean, people know what [the show is], and they love it. They can’t wait to see who’s gonna be on it.”
The Masked Singer season 10 premiere kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 10, immediately following the the NFL Double Header on Fox.
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