“Masked Singer” sees Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg ride a giant strawberry and Ice King unmasked as former child star
Miley Cyrus Night definitely came in like a wrecking ball this week.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Masked Singer season 12, episode 8, "Miley Cyrus Night."
This week's episode of The Masked Singer definitely came in like a wrecking ball, which was appropriate given it was Miley Cyrus Night.
The Grammy-winning singer and actress didn't make an appearance herself in the episode, but her essence was felt throughout. As always, the remaining contestants were tasked with singing various Cyrus hits, and the hints all featured sly connections between the masks and the Hannah Montana star.
And, of course, all of the evening's shenanigans started with the rest of Group C — Strawberry Shortcake, Royal Knight, Sherlock Hound, and Ice King — performing together Cyrus' 2009 hit "Party in the U.S.A."
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Other than that, it was business as usual. This week, Sherlock Hound kicked things off with his performance of "Used to Be Young," which suited his vocals. This was followed with Ken Jeong making a self-own, telling the crowd, "Don’t let [my] look fool you — I look fun, wild, and young, though I’m boring, mild, and old." In something of a surprise, it was not Jeong or Robin Thicke but Rita Ora who became the first panelist to make a wrecking ball joke.
After the break, the panel was giving Cyrus her flowers by praising her popularity throughout the industry, when Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg addressed the elephant in the room, leading to one of the evening's funniest moments. "Robin you know Miley very well,” McCarthy-Wahlberg told him, no doubt referring to the controversial 2013 VMAs performance between Thicke, Cyrus, and a foam finger. “No, Miley and I have never met,” Thicke deadpanned, causing Jeong to laugh so hard he needed to do a few laps around the table to get his energy out.
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From there, Ice King sang “Midnight Sky," Strawberry Shortcake performed “Wrecking Ball” (someone had to do it!), and Royal Knight ended the proceedings with “When I Look at You."
It wouldn't be a Miley Cyrus-themed evening without someone swinging from the ceiling, and before the elimination, McCarthy-Wahlberg did the honors, by swinging around on a giant strawberry... which was a choice.
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There was nothing more to do after that than to finally say goodbye to someone, and unfortunately for him, that someone this week was Ice King. For the most part, the final guesses homed in on the child star clues, so Ora guessed Shia LaBeouf, Jeong picked Joe Jonas, and Thicke chose Cole Sprouse.
When Ice King unmasked, he was revealed to be former Nickelodeon child star Drake Bell, who shared his story of childhood abuse on the explosive docuseries Quiet on Set earlier this year. Coincidentally Bell's Drake & Josh costar Yvette Nicole Brown also competed on The Masked Singer this season, when she was revealed as Showbird last month.
McCarthy-Wahlberg was surely kicking herself, because all through the episode she named Bell as Ice King, but changed her final guess at the last minute to James Franco — better luck next time!
Speaking of next time, The Masked Singer is getting a Thanksgiving makeover in next week's episode, which will air on Thursday instead of Wednesday. As teased at the end of tonight's episode, the Thanksgiving special will have special guests — the Peanuts gang! — and everyone will be getting a double helping of both pie and eliminations, because it’s the final episode before the quarterfinals and only one contestant from Group C can make it through.
Stay tuned for that next Thursday from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.