Masked Singer Shocking Reveal: One Heartwarming Reunion Two Years in the Making

It was a genuinely shocking and powerfully emotional moment in one as this week’s unmasking on “The Masked Singer" was a beautiful reunion of sorts after two years of estrangement.

You never know who’s going to be unmasked, and the panel was definitely wrong with their first and last impression guesses this week. Let’s just say, no one was close. And let us remind Ken Jeong one more time that no Kardashian is going to do this show!

We say that and we’ll find out later that one of them has been here all along. But not really.

This week also marked the introduction of the very last Wild Card, which came with a surprise twist of its own. It’s also one of the more massive costumes of the season, with the act coming out completely encased in a giant Beach Ball. The only moving part was the mouth.

That didn’t stop a high-energy vocal performance on a night that brought a lot of great energy. It also brought one performance that was so strong, Jenny McCarthy dropped everything and declared that act the best singer this show has ever seen across six seasons. That’s a tall order, considering some of the talent we’ve unmasked over the years.

Jenny was very excited tonight, as at another point she was so certain the identity of one of the masks, she demanded this season’s instant unmask button. If a panelist is so sure they know who’s under a mask, they can slam the button, declare it and if right, the celeb has to unmask immediately. So what happened?

We’ll get there soon enough!

Let’s jump right in with this week’s masks. And don’t worry, before we get to the shocking unmasking, we're going to make you power through the terrible (and occasionally good) guesses made by our illustrious panel of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger first. We do this because we love ... to torture you.

Mallard certainly feels authentically country, but as a vocal and even a stage performance, this was mediocre at a generous best. Sure, he’s mostly in the right key when singing, but considering the song, he was lacking in any enthusiasm. This was someone going through the motions of the song because they had to. Nothing to see here.

Guesses: Further confirming the prevailing online theory about Mallard’s identity, this week he revealed that he and his family are all famous, and that some members of his family have been scrutinized over their comments -- so you know, it’s the Robertsons of “Duck Dynasty.”

Imagery included in the piece were pieces of bread getting thrown at the dinner table, a picture of Lincoln, a killer whale toy in a bowl and an Allen wrench. They should just show us a duck call at this point. He is already a duck, after all, which is the biggest clue of all.

As for his song, he revealed that he was once invited on stage by Luke Bryan to sing the song he performed tonight and he embarrassed himself by not knowing the words. He rectified that,but forgot to actually perform it.

His one-word clue was a crown, which had Jenny thinking this was maybe Hollywood royalty. She was maybe thinking about Billy Ray Cyrus, but he sings much better than this so we don’t agree with anyone saying that was a good guess.

Obviously forgetting that reality fame is still fame, Robin was thinking that maybe it’s Kiefer Sutherland, who has a side band and a famous family. Nicole did go reality, but randomly came up with Jack Osbourne as a fun choice, but instead settled on John Rich from Big & Rich.

His bonus celebrity kudos came from Chris Pratt, who said he went out catching frogs with Mallard. At this point, no one can believe they've not even landed close to "Duck Dynasty." Did they all sleep through the mid-2010s. That wasn't that long ago!

It's Willie Robertson, and Twitter has the receipts.

Caterpillar is limited in how he can move due to his bulky costume, but he still managed to deliver a high-energy performance on stage, moving about as he could. More importantly, he really delivered with professional-caliber vocals. We’re confident that this is a seasoned pro who’s no stranger to boy band music. He’s either sang it before, or he’s just a big fan..

Guesses: We can rule out him being a member of *NSYNC, though, as he did fret about forgetting the lyrics and you’d think they wouldn’t have that problem. Most of his package, though, was about connecting with his “whole family,” who he didn’t know growing up.

He said it was a job as a telemarketer that opened those doors, and despite his fears about sharing “the real” him with them, they accepted him fully. This makes us wonder if he’s a member of the LGBTQ+ community, as that’s a common fear in that community with family and loved ones.

We saw one of the men in black sporting an eye patch during this one, and an emphasis on the phrase “open arms,” which always makes us think of Journey. But you know? That could just be us.

His one word clue was “POP,” which had Ken thinning pop singer (duh). Ken took from the clue package that perhaps Caterpillar was adopted, making him think of Keegan-Michael Key. He then threw out the possibility that maybe it was a pop star who was adopted, and Jenny lost her mind.

“I know who that is!” she shouted, immediately asking for the button, the new addition this season that allows one panelist per group to slam it and try and force an immediate unmasking by correctly identifying the person under the mask.

Considering their terrible track record this year, we’re not sure anyone should be taking this risk, but Jenny was literally jumping up and down with excitement over it … but she ultimately chickened out with her guess: JC Chasez.

“I’m so glad that you did not press it. That is not JC,” Nicole said.

Nick had to remind the panel that there was on confirmation that Caterpillar was adopted, and was thinking more along with Jenny (and us) that this might be more about coming out to family. So she went with Lance Bass.

Twitter is of two minds about this one, with most of the guesses split between "Queer Eye" star Bobby Berk and Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie. But they're not even sure on those two, with guesses for Chris Kirkpatrick, Aaron Carter and even Post Malone?!

Queen of Hearts wanted to challenge herself with a last-minute song change and she took on Bishop Briggs’ “Like a River.” A tall order and she absolutely slayed it. The entire panel was speechless, and we were equally stunned as she continues to make a case for why she should win this whole season. It was such a commaing vocal performance, with incredible command and power, but also a very intimate whispery quality that was just as compelling. What an incredibly gifted singer..

Guesses: This week, we learned that the press was cruel to Queen of Hearts when she first broke big, showing words like “stupid,” “simplistic,” “untalented” and even “chubby.” It’s worth nothing she said press and not social media, which could date her launch back a bit.

We saw a cowboy hat and an envelope with the words “With Love” on it, as she talked about the power of words. All of this, for us, fits the internet’s favorite clue -- and a powerhouse vocalist in her own right -- Jewel Kilcher.

Following Robin’s declaration last round that Queen delivered the best “Masked Singer” performance of all time, Jenny declared her the greatest vocalist in the history of the show this week -- and they’ve had some incredible vocalists. We would agree she’s definitely among them.

Her one-word clue was “Home,” which gave Jenny a bit of a clue. She started wondering if it could be “My House” singer Kacey Musgraves, but Robin was instead wondering if maybe it was Jessica Simpson. She definitely fits the tabloid cruelty.

Nicole said this one has been costing her sleep, wondering if maybe this was the Oscar nominated artist we were promised this season, tossing about names like Jennifer Lawrence and Marion Cottilard -- but “most of these chicks is not single,” as a prior clue said.

But then she landed where the internet and we have been for a little while now, but still not enough to hit the big button Jenny almost smashed. “That is Jewel,” she declared.

Honestly, we’re glad she didn’t hit it, because if this is what Jewel is delivering under that costume, we can’t wait to hear more! As Robin pointed out, her costume is a giant jewel. We also got a bonus clue in the form of a little blackbird.

Twitter was proud of Nicole for getting this one right, and we're still blown away by the range Jewel has been showing. The real question is if Nicole will lock in with this guess, or slide off into wrongville again.

Banana Split delivered a high-energy performance with Ice Cream bringing some high kicks to her killer vocals. She was totally confident sliding into a Chicks song, complete with a bit of that country twang and matching Natalie Maines for power. This was a confident performance by a consummate professional who’s been at this for a while.

Guesses: The clue package echoed that, taking us all the way back to a ‘50s-era sitcom so the duo could talk about having worked together in the past --disastrously. They called it a “nightmare,” while showing a big beetle (or was that a cockroach) on a table during housework.

They said that they bickered constantly because Banana didn’t want to learn new things, with him asking if this is a form of therapy for them. But they also said that people loved what they did and couldn’t stop watching it, so it seems most of the problems were behind the scenes.

Banana also revealed that he is severely claustrophobic, even getting a special costume and mask in place to help him be able to perform. The drawback is that he can’t see. Luckily, he mostly just sits at the piano and plays, so there’s no chance of him falling over or hitting something … or someone!

Their one-word clue is “Director,” which had Nicole thinking of Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman, heading to Broadway for a revival of “The Music Man.” She also said that Hugh plays piano, but Jenny shifted over to piano player Jeff Goldblum and his wife, Emilie Livingston.

Robin also thought of Kevin Bacon, who plays a lot of instruments, and his wife Kyra Sedgwick, while Joel went with Zooey Deschanel and Lamorne Morris (did they have problems together on the set of “New Girl”?). So they’re nowhere close to what Twitter has been theorizing since they first hit the stage together. Couldn't you hear Katharine McPhee in that vocal, with David Foster tickling the ivory.

As for the guesses, the Twittersphere is done playing around on this one. They just know it's Katharine McPhee and David Foster, so it's now about waiting for everyone to get on board. The pair have worked together plenty of times, including on the "American Idol" stage long before they were an item.

Beach Ball was terrible. We are glad that these two young(?) ladies reconnected during the show, but neither of them can carry a tune. Or was that intentionally atrocious. Dare we say that they were more out of tune than even White Tiger? This was an absolute disaster from start to finish, but we were smiling, along with the panel, at how earnestly they were singing. We have a feeling they know they were terrible but just didn’t care.

Guesses: We are touched at Beach Ball’s story about being someone who was “thrown into the game” at an early age and subsequently in the spotlight for a long time but was able to enjoy that ride with their biggest supporter right there with them.

Even more, after sharing that they’d drifted apart recently, how sweet is it that they were able to reconnect and hopefully rekindle that relationship through appearing on this show. So long as they don’t try to sing!

Speaking of, we are stunned to hear that she had a hit single, though we’re not surprised it was recorded in one take because we couldn’t take another take of this performance. She also said she was famous for recipes.

“I don’t know if they were singing, but they were definitely fighting under that thing,” Joel quipped about the --ahem-- quality of their vocals. Robin wondered about the peach in the package, throwing out Georgians Dakota and Elle Fanning.

Nick actually agreed with Robin’s follow-up that maybe it was “2 Broke Girls” stars Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs. But Ken thought maybe the money was about Kim and Khloe Kardashian (he really wants that family on this show!). Robin countered with Kendall/Kylie vibe, while Joel went Scott/Rob -- so they’re not even really trying anymore.

We're not even sure if Twitter cared who was under the mask here because they couldn't get over how awful it was. This is a one and done, right? There's no way anyone would vote to keep them ... right?

This may be the first time in "Masked Singer" history that no one online even cared who was underneath a mask. And this is an intriguing costume, with clearly two people inside. But it was so bad, we should find out soon, anyway. Right? Right?!

We were ready to maybe have a fight on our hands, and then Beach Ball came out and gave us the two worst singers of the whole competition (maybe ever) in one round package. There is just no way they should carry on after a performance like that -- but worse things have happened.

That’s probably good news for Mallard, who is the other weak singer of the group. But at least he can carry a tune. The only thing that could save Beach Ball is that they seem to have a lot of personality wrapped up in all of that plastic.

But it shouldn’t. We’re not sure we could take another performance from them.

Thankfully, the audience and panel had to concede that Beach Ball was an absolute disaster and it was time to say goodbye. It feels like we just met! Oh wait, we did.

• Robin Thicke: first impression (Kat Dennings & Beth Behrs), final guess (Kat Dennings & Beth Behrs)
• Jenny McCarthy: first impression (Kim Zolciak & Erika Jayne), final guess (Snooki & JWoww)
• Ken Jeong: first impression (Kim & Khloe Kardashian), final guess (Kim & Khloe Kardashian)
• Nicole Scherzinger: first impression (Kristen Wiig & the other girl from “Barb & Starr”), final guess (Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo)
• Joel McHale: first impression (Tiffany Pollard & Tori Spelling), final guess (Snooki & JWoww)

This was actually a huge reunion moment for the pair inside, and a heartwarming one, as it was Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and “Mama June” Shannon, who’ve been estranged for years now as June has struggled through addiction.

We’re actually glad it was such a sweet reveal, as it added enough of a feel-good layer that we could endure the terrible tone-deaf vocals that assaulted our ears when they started singing again.

But truthfully, we couldn’t be happier to see June in a better place with her health, and reconnecting with her young daughter. Here’s to hoping they can stay on a positive path, both individually and together as a family.

“The Masked Singer” continues Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.