'The Masked Singer' unmasks Leaf Sheep as football legend in season 12 premiere that's full of wild surprises

Starry guest appearances included William Shatner, Joel McHale, Nick Lachey, Jewel, Jenifer Lewis, and DeMarcus Ware.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Masked Singer season 12, episode 1, "Premiere: Who Can It Be Now?"

The Masked Singer season 12 premiere dared to boldly go where no premiere has gone before — by having William Shatner introduce the proceedings.

Shatner, who previously competed in season 8 as the Knight, channeled his duties as host of The UnXplained to intro the season and give a brief history of Masked, or as he put it, "The only show that keeps you guessing, wondering, begging to know who could it be now?"

Right on cue, returning panelist Rita Ora performed "Who Can It Be Now?" by Men at Work before the competition officially got underway. It was an appropriately star-studded way to begin the new season, given the twist Nick Cannon introduced next: Masked Ambassadors. These ambassadors are all alums of the show — one for each of the 15 season 12 contestants — who endorse and introduce the new singers.

Related: Meet The Masked Singer's Goo and more season 12 costumes

For episode 1's Group A, that meant Nick Lachey (a.k.a. Season 5 winner Piglet), who served as ambassador for Buffalo; Jenifer Lewis (a.k.a. Season 11’s Miss Cleocatra), who endorsed Woodpecker; DeMarcus Ware (a.k.a. Season 11’s Koala), for Leaf Sheep; Joel McHale (frequent guest panelist and thorn in the side for longtime panelist Ken Jeong) for Showbird; and Jewel (a.k.a. Season 6 winner Queen of Hearts), who was ambassador for Ship.

The other big surprise in the premiere came during the first masked performance of the night. Up to that point, Buffalo had been marketed as one singer, but during his rendition of Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms," not one, but two more buffalo popped out from behind the scenes to join in. As Jeong so perfectly put it: "It's a herd!"

The rest of the premiere was business as usual for the hit celeb singing show. After all the performances, it was clear there were a few professional singers, a few folks maybe not known for their voices but who clearly have talent, and the odd man out who definitely just did the show for laughs.

Related: Everything to know about The Masked Singer season 12: From celebrity ambassadors to all-new clues

In this instance, as is often the case with Masked Singer, the latter contestant — Leaf Sheep — was the first to be eliminated after the panel and studio audience voted. As always, before he could take off the oversized sea slug mask, the panel had to give their final guesses as to his identity.

Everyone but Ora guessed a former NFL star: Robin Thicke picked Troy Aikman, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg guessed Tom Brady, and Jeong chose John Elway. Ora had the distinct honor of having the worst guess of the night — she chose Billy Bob Thornton — but given that she's British and therefore doesn't have American football, perhaps she gets a pass.

Related: The Masked Singer showrunner reveals how season 12 is 'a whole new level of gameplay' for fans

In the end, Jeong continued his winning streak of correctly guessing sports stars, and started off season 12 with the first win — Leaf Sheep was unmasked to reveal legendary Denver Broncos quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion, John Elway.

After Thicke and Jeong thanked Elway for the honor of having him on the show, and gushed about how they watched him play growing up, Cannon wrapped things up by encouraging fans to tune in again next week, which will feature Footloose night, in honor of that film's 40th anniversary. Star Kevin Bacon is said to make an appearance via video in the episode, which will once again feature the contestants of Group A.

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The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.

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