Yahoo Lifestyle Flavor Flav Reveals a Future Return to Reality TV After 'Masked Singer' Appearance (Exclusive)
The Masked Singer has become one of FOX's most popular reality series due to its "who sung it?" nature. With a seemingly bottomless pool of celebrities to consider, most of the time, fans and judges alike are stumped the vast majority of the season to figure out which stars are behind the mask. There are some cases, however, where it's so obvious, even Nick Cannon is able to figure it out from jump. While Flavor Flav took us out of this world with Space Ranger, the host was able to clock (quite literally) who was underneath the helmet. And, while the Public Enemy founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was able to stunningly evade the judges the first time around, a couple had caught on by the time he was eliminated and forced to unmask.
After her reveal, Parade spoke with Flavor Flav about his time on The Masked Singer.
How did you get involved with The Masked Singer? Had you been asked before?
Well, let me just say this. Masked Singer was always something that I always wanted to do. It's been on my bucket list. Because one thing about me, I love shocking people. I love surprising people. I love amusing people. So this show gave me a chance to be able to do all of that, to put me on that platform, Mike, to be able to do all of those things. It was something that was on my bucket list that now I was able to knock off, and I had fun. I really had fun doing that show, man. It was real fun, man. I wish I could do it again, but my voice is so distinctive, I couldn't do it again because people would guess me automatically, just like they gave me away automatically.
Talk to me about that. I mean, Nick literally clocked who you were from one of the first notes you sang.
Hey, listen, let me tell you something. Nick Cannon has always been one of my favorite people on the planet. You know what I'm saying. And way before Nick Cannon was Wild 'n Out, I was wilding out first since 1986. But when Nick Cannon said, "I know exactly who this is," this is one of my most favorite people on the planet. When he said that, you don't know how proud that made me feel, man, and how honored that made me feel hearing that come from Nick Cannon. My voice, like I said, is one of the most distinctive voices in the history of rap music, in the history of television.
And it's not hard to take my voice and link it up to those easy-ass clues that they had up there. PE, come on! And the second one was the hardware around the neck. Who wears hardware around their neck? Flavor Flav! Because nobody else wears hardware around their neck like I do. You know what I'm saying. And then the third clue that really gave it away, Mike, was the belt. And they showed the belt twice. They showed the belt twice. I'm like, "Wow, man, that was a real easy giveaway." But like I said, I love fooling people, I love surprising people, and I love keeping people in suspense. So it was kind of amusing seeing Tracy Morgan's face pop up on the screen. I'm like, "Wow, where did they get Tracy Morgan?" And not only that, but another wild guess, Mike, was Floyd Mayweather. Floyd is a billionaire! What is he going to be doing on a show like this, man? But hey, it was fun watching them trying to guess who I was.
Related: Everything to Know About The Masked Singer Season 13
What was your reaction when you found out you would be eliminated second from your group? You talk about how this is a bucket list thing for you. Did you want to go all the way?
I was a little sad, because I was having fun doing the show. I was having fun getting in and out of that costume. And I really, really wanted to last a little bit longer. I wanted to last at least for two more songs. Because I like the song selections that they gave me, and I was willing to knock these song selections out. But out of the four selections that they gave me, at least I got to do two of them. So the other two that I didn't do, I don't even have to mention now, because it's irrelevant. But I really enjoyed doing Taylor Swift's song, and also I really enjoyed doing the Ghostbusters "Cleanin' Up the Town." I really enjoyed that so much, man. I just wish that they didn't do me so dirty. I feel like they're dirty by getting rid of me so fast. But I couldn't understand when it comes down to ratings, because I can bring high ratings and viewership. I've done it before, and I know I could do it again, and they knew I could do it. I think that's why they revealed me so fast.
Well, on that note, this marked your return to reality TV for the first time since the iconic Flavor of Love reality series in the 2000s. Has then given you the desire to get back into doing more unscripted stuff?
Well, I've been working. I never got my high school diploma, Mike. So I'm working on a new reality TV show called Old Schooled with Flavor Flav. I'm going back to high school to get my diploma. Not a GED, a diploma. And I'm putting that on TV. So right now, we're in pitch mode with some networks, and we're going to start shooting my show in May. And the reason why I'm doing this show, Mike, is because I want to show a lot of people that's my age, that it's never too late to go back to get your diploma. But then also, for the kids that are in school right now, get that piece of paper while you're here right now because you're going to have a hard time going through life without it like I did. And plus you might not get to make it back like me to get your diploma. So that's my message to the kids that are in school.
Also, me and my partner, Chuck D, we're working on some brand new Public Enemy music to bring to you guys, because we're going out on tour with Guns N' Roses this summer. Axl Rose is my good friend, but Slash is my boy. So we're going out on tour with Guns N' Roses. So we want some new songs to take out on the road with us. And then also, I'm working on an R&B project that I'm going to be bringing to you guys this year as well.
