AJ Michalka Thought About Sister Aly's 'Sweet' Son Jack to Calm Her 'Nerves' While on “The Masked Singer” (Exclusive)

Warning: This article contains spoilers from the Dec. 11 episode of The Masked Singer.

Strawberry Shortcake showed off some serious vocal chops in a performance of Selena Gomez's "Lose You to Love Me" as a semi-finalist on The Masked Singer and ultimately took home the bronze.

AJ Michalka was revealed as the star behind the Strawberry Shortcake mask on the Dec. 11 episode after going up against Wasp and the Buffalos — and she delivered a performance of her and sister Aly's modern classic "Potential Breakup Song" in a high-energy sendoff moment.

"I'm not mad at [third place]," she tells PEOPLE. "I wanted top two, but it's solid."

Related: The Masked Singer Season 12 Reveals: See All the Celebrities Who Were Unmasked

The Aly & AJ musician and actress, 33, rarely performs on stage as a soloist, and the sister duo was initially offered to appear on The Masked Singer together. But the show was in production as Aly, 34, was gearing up to welcome her first son, Jack, in April with husband Stephen Ringer, and she encouraged AJ to compete on her own.

In a nod to both her sister and their fans, AJ performed two songs she'd already covered with Aly: Tegan and Sara's "Closer" and Kacey Musgraves' "Slow Burn." The judges got close with their guesses, as Robin Thicke questioned if Danielle Haim or Haylie Duff were in the Strawberry Shortcake costume, but they couldn't quite pinpoint the Steven Universe star.

Following AJ's elimination, she caught up with PEOPLE about her Masked Singer experience, spending time with former The Goldbergs costar Hayley Orrantia on set, how thinking of Jack helped her get through the competition and what fans can expect from Aly & AJ's upcoming new album.

How did you decide to go on The Masked Singer? And were you already a viewer of the show?

I had watched the show before. My really, really good friend was on season 7, Hayley Orrantia. She was the Ringmaster. That season, I was hooked. I've seen Jewel's performance, which I loved, and LeAnn Rimes. I know they won their seasons. But I didn't know the show that well.

Going on was actually a blast. Aly and I were asked to do it together as a duo. She actually just had Jack, because he came a little early, and I knew going into it, “This is going to be really hard with Aly being a new mom.” And by the time we were going to be shooting it, I was like, “This isn't going to make any sense timing-wise." So, I talked to her and was like, "Hey, would you be okay with me just doing it on my own?" And she was like, "Hell yeah. Go kill it."

It was exciting. I've never done anything without her on stage. I've obviously done some stuff theatrically, and I've gotten really far on some Broadway shows. So I definitely have the confidence as a solo artist to do it, but it's not my normal jam, and I don't ever really have the want to go in the solo direction. But I was like, "I want to do this. I think it'd be cool."

I got to choose all my songs, and it was cool not singing Aly & AJ tunes. My whole life is singing our songs, which I love, butI had a moment to really appreciate songs by Selena, Kacey Musgraves, Lee Ann Womack. I had a Liz Phair song and a Billie Eilish song prepared, and those didn't get to air. But that's what sold me on the show. Once they said the artist gets to choose every song, I was like, "I'm in. Let's do it."

Related: Aly Michalka Welcomes First Baby, a Boy, with Husband Stephen Ringer: 'Everything We Could Imagine' (Exclusive)

How did it feel singing two songs you and Aly have done together, Tegan and Sara’s “Closer” and Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn”?

I chose those on purpose to be cheeky. Because I was like, "The deep cut fans are going to know that's possibly AJ or Aly, because we both covered those songs." But the judges didn't figure it out, which I thought was hilarious. I think they would only expect me as a duo. I chose those two songs because I feel really comfortable singing them, and I'd sung them on stage quite a bit. So, I re-tailored them to be solo songs. I took different parts than I would've taken had it been Aly and I. I also sang a lot more of the song, of course, because usually Aly and I go back and forth on verses and the bridge. I just said, "You know what? I'm used to singing these, I've recorded them, and I'm just going to sing them on my own."

Was it kind of cool to sing a Miley song with “Wrecking Ball,” given that you guys had parallel paths on Disney Channel in the 2000s?

Yes. I actually loved that moment. I was going to reach out to Miley the night of the airing, and I didn't, which is silly, but I haven't seen her in so long. But I want to just reach out and be like, "I had so much fun singing that song. It's so good." I was between “Wrecking Ball” and “Slide Away,” but I was like, "You know what? ‘Wrecking Ball’ is such a moment, and it's such a theatrical piece with the ball." Everything about it on stage was perfect. And even Ken swinging on the ball later in the show was hilarious.

You spoke about dedicating your time on the show to Jack, Aly's son. How were you thinking of him with each performance?

If I was nervous, I would just think about him. As an artist, you still get stage fright every now and then. If I'm with Aly, and we're about to get on stage, I'm very calm. But on this show, you're adding so many elements you're not used to, between the heels, the cake skirt and the helmet [with the] strawberry, and everything's heavy, and you're not used to singing these songs, and you have a couple days to prep, and there's a little choreo.

It adds elements that just brought my nerves up to the surface a little more, so my meditation before going on was just thinking about Jack, watching FaceTime videos with him and some videos of him as a newborn. Stuff like that just made me so happy, brought me out of my shell and just brought me into, "Okay, think of who you are as an aunt, and go perform for Jack." It really helps.

How will this experience impact your approach to performing going forward — or has it already, since you filmed it a few months back?

I always think moments like this are just little nuggets of added confidence. I already felt really confident in my vocals. I've trained for a really long time. I've been singing for years, and I had an incredible vocal coach on the show. I felt really centered and grounded with these songs because I love these songs. The one thing I can say I took away every night was just a newfound confidence. You're just like, "Okay, great. I can take that with me. I know I can sing that song. I know I can sing in that register. I know I can hit that note."

Even auditioning for Wicked back in the day, two years ago, I auditioned for Glinda and didn't make it crazy far but ended up having an opportunity to sing some really incredible songs from that show, and I didn't know I could sing those songs. When you're a singer and you sing in a certain genre, like Aly and I, it's more of a rock band — we're not necessarily always belting — you don't always know the things you can pull off. Then, down the road, you start singing other songs, and you're like, "Wow. I didn't really know I could do that."

Hayley Orrantia, your former costar on The Goldbergs, was your Mask Ambassador. How did it feel to have her in your corner a year after the sitcom ended?

It was so awesome. She's the best. First of all, she's one of my closest friends. I was in her wedding. We're very, very close. Second of all, she has such an amazing voice. I have so much respect for her as a fellow singer and actor, but her voice just makes me melt. Season 7 is really when I got introduced to the show, and I knew it was her immediately. I was like, "That's Hayley."

So, when they said, "This is the first year we're going to have ambassadors. Do you have any ideas?" I was like, "The number one idea, it's got to be Hayley. It just makes so much sense. It's got to be Ringmaster." And they were like, "Done."

I thought it was going to be super obvious to everyone. I think it is to the fans. I think the judges didn't necessarily know, which is hilarious. But she was at almost every taping. Beyond what she was used for on camera to introduce me, she came as support — her, my boyfriend [Josh Pence] and my manager. Aly was in Santa Barbara with her sweet boy, otherwise she would've come. But I had a really sweet support circle around me during the tapings, and Hayley was one of those people.

Related: The Goldbergs Star Hayley Orrantia Marries Greg Furman in ‘Rustic’ Malibu Wedding: See the Pics! (Exclusive)

You and Aly have revealed the title of your next album, Silver Deliverer. Are you excited to get back into album mode?

I am so excited. We finished recording right before I went on to do Masked Singer, so I felt very vocally warmed up. I had just finished 15 songs with her. I felt really good. Right after the show ended, we ended up heading into post-production, so we're mixing and mastering right now, which takes quite a bit of time. But we've got the record completely figured out. We know all the songs. We haven't set a release date yet, but we're definitely going to tour a lot next fall. It's going to be a really big year for the band. I couldn't be more proud of this record. It is my favorite thing we've ever made, hands down.

Read the original article on People