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Lisa Curry reveals emotional reason why she did The Masked Singer
The Masked Singer’s guessing panel were left stunned on Monday night when Caterpillar was revealed to be one of Australia’s most iconic sports stars.
While Chrissie Swan had guessed Emily Seebohm, Dave Hughes thought it was Sally Pearson and Mel B suggested Schapelle Corby, the second superstar to be unveiled this season was none other than Lisa Curry.
Chatting with Yahoo Lifestyle following her unmasking, the triple Olympian spoke openly about her experience and how the passing of her daughter Jaimi helped her decide to go on the show.
“These opportunities only come around once, and singing is so joyful. It can really lift your spirit,” she says. “I've had a couple of really hard years and I thought this might just sort of get me out of my hole that I'm in.
“And it's funny because people say, you know, ‘Do you feel better by doing it?’. Yes, you do, but in everyday life, when you lose a child you feel different. You're a different person and we feel like we are wearing a mask every day.
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“We wear a mask of strength, we try and laugh and feel guilty about it, and as soon as that mask is taken off when you go home you just kind of fall back into your own little corner,” she continued, before adding through tears, “It’s really hard, but this show gave me so much joy.”
Jaimi, Lisa's daughter with former Ironman Grant Kenny, passed away in 2020 at the age of 33 after battling a long-term illness.
‘I’m not very good’
Lisa went on to say that despite her lack of musical ability, The Masked Singer is one of the best things she’s ever done in her life.
“I had such a good time and it was so much fun practising and learning the new songs,” she remarks.
“It's one thing to sing along to a song on the radio, but as soon as they take vocals away and it's just you, it’s completely different. I actually messaged the producer and I said, ‘Look, if you want to get someone else, I’m not offended at all because I'm not very good’.
“My vocal coach Gary Pinto was amazing and he was so full of confidence and support and actually said, ‘You’re doing really well, you're singing great’.”
The best-selling author adds that her husband, entertainer and Elvis tribute artist Mark Tabone, also provided plenty of guidance when preparing for her singing debut.
“The funny thing is, Mark is doing gigs every weekend and every now and then in the middle of a show he would come and put the microphone up to my mouth and I would just recoil in horror,” she shares. “But, you know, I was quite happy to go on national TV and belt out a song!
“I think I represent all the people out there who love singing so much but aren’t very good. We all have a go, we sing in the car, we sing in the shower and we sing out loud because it's good for the soul.”
‘It was so heavy’
Speaking about her impressive Caterpillar costume on the show, Lisa admits it was quite difficult putting it on for the performance.
“The costume had to be hung because it was so heavy, so it took a couple of people to lift it and put it over my head and I had harnesses over my shoulder, and then they had to strap the head in,” she details.
“Sometimes I could barely see out of the mouth, I couldn't see where I was on stage. There was one point where there were five masks on stage and everyone was looking forward but I was looking sideways. I just couldn’t see anything!”
While her time in the competition didn’t last very long, Lisa jokes that The Masked Singer won’t be the last time fans get to hear her sing.
“I might just release a new album or maybe my concert tickets will go on sale!” she laughs. “It must be amazing to be a performer on stage and have people scream at you, it’s a really cool feeling.
“I would have liked to have stayed for one more song because I really liked my next song, which was Marvin Gaye’s Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. I just love that song, but anyway, I can add it to my repertoire of songs for what we call Curry-oke.”
The Masked Singer continues tonight at 7:30pm on Ten.
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