(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Wednesday’s episode of “The Masked Singer.”)
“The Masked Singer” unmasked and eliminated another contestant on this week’s episode, the final one ahead of the Season 3 finale next week. That competitor was the Rhino, who turned out to be former professional baseball player Barry Zito. And though the former Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants ballplayer has also had a music career, he is primarily known for his time in the MLB. He said he’s “just as shocked as anybody” that he made it to “The Masked Singer” semifinals.
“I learned in my baseball career that setting goals is great, but being a little too obsessed with results can put me in a dark place. I know that about myself,” Zito told TheWrap. “So my only goal going in was to truly enjoy the experience and not be too caught in winning or being first place. Those kind of things really led to some negative things in my life when I approached baseball that way.”
Zito added: “I think us as human beings are capable of really special things when we can just be in the moment and express authentically. And I think that was a huge takeaway for me. I mean, I went in just hoping I wouldn’t get eliminated in the first show. So I was as shocked as anybody that I made it that far.”
Only three contestants beat out Zito to get to the Fox singing competition’s finale next Wednesday: the yet-to-be-unmasked Night Angel, Turtle and Frog.
That means the former pro baseball player went further this season than some big names in the music industry, including Lil Wayne, Hunter Hayes, Bret Michaels, Dionne Warwick and Chaka Khan.
“Every week we watch it with the kids — and I have young kids, so we always watch it on Thursday mornings,” Zito told us. “And I’m always shocked because I was standing next to all these characters. And seeing who these people are was really cool. Of course I wish I could know that and go back in time and interact with them on stage how I did.”
Of course Zito is glad he made it as far as he did while stumping the judges, and impressed by some of the names they threw out when trying to figure out his identity.
“I think the Nashville, the Grand Ole Opry clue really made people think country singer. So a lot of the guesses were country singers. Of course I was flattered to be getting the Tim McGraws, and Jason Aldeans, and the Sam Hunts and Blake Shelton. And Vince Gill — I mean, Vince Gill is a legend. So that was incredible,” Zito said. “And then a lot of Tim Tebow reactions early in the show, which was fun and I thought that was a great guess, ’cause I looked huge in that costume. But then I was getting David Hasselhoff, which I just thought was hilarious. I was in the mask just laughing to myself.”
“The Masked Singer” Season 3 finale airs next Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.