(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 8 of “The Masked Singer”)
As promised, Season 8 of “The Masked Singer” has come barreling into the fall TV landscape with a legendary first unmasking. After an exciting performance of Fred Astaire’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” William Shatner was revealed to be the Knight.
The “Star Trek” actor said he chose the song for its “syncopated and jazzy” feel, which he felt would bring some fun energy to the audience.
“And you could speak the words rather than singing them or holding any notes. So that seemed like a good song to do,” he laughed during a recent conversation with TheWrap.
Naturally, the audience and the judges were blown away by the surprise that Shatner was, in fact, standing before them on stage — even though Jenny McCarthy had ultimately guessed it might be him under the armor.
McCarthy seemed impressed and shocked to have hit the nail on the head with that guess and, admittedly, Shatner said he was surprised to hear the judge utter his name as well.
“I was surprised, because I’d lost my own identity,” Shatner joked, adding that his costume had proved to be quite disorienting. “I didn’t know who I was by that point.”
That being said, Shatner admitted that looked back on the experience fondly, especially since it gave him an opportunity to also talk about his slew of other impressive projects, including multiple television shows and documentaries, a watch he designed with NASA, and even his trek into space.
Once he’d been unmasked, Shatner stuck around in the audience for the next reveal to find out that Hedgehog’s identity was none other than “Monty Python” star Eric Idle.
“The people who are responsible for the for the security of the show should be hired by the government. “It was incredible,” Shatner said of the next unveiling, explaining he had no idea who could possibly be behind any of the other costumes.
He amusingly added: “I know there was a sniper ready to shoot me if I said a word.”
“The Masked Singer” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
