Nathan Morris Says Boyz II Men Came onto “The Masked Singer ”Season 12 Hoping to 'Leave the First Show' (Exclusive)

• Boyz II Men competed on The Masked Singer season 12 as Buffalos and became the first group in the show's history to take home the Golden Mask trophy

• Wanya Morris tells PEOPLE that dressing as Buffalos involved "dehydration, major tired, sweating profusely [and] walking into each other"

• Nathan Morris tells PEOPLE that the group "nobody really wanted to do it because we just wanted to go home"

Boyz II Men brought a little East Coast swing to The Masked Singer — and it earned them the Golden Mask trophy.

On Wednesday, Dec. 18, host Nick Cannon crowned Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman, who competed as Buffalos, the winners of The Masked Singer season 12, making them the first group to win the show.

“Here we are, champions and history makers of The Masked Singer — it's a beautiful thing,” Wanya, 51, tells PEOPLE in an interview with his bandmates.

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

The trio sang Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” and Sam Smith’s “Too Good at Goodbyes” to beat out Wasp, who unmasked as “Let Me Love You” singer Mario. Judges Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Rita Ora and Robin Thicke clocked early on that Boyz II Men might be under the Buffalos costumes.

“It is a testament of our music and our recognition that people know us that well,” Shawn, 52, says. “It reminded us that, hey, I guess we did OK that people can actually recognize us just from our voices.”

Nathan, 53, calls Boyz II Men and The Masked Singer “a great combination,” although he admits the group didn’t want to do the show at first.

Keep reading to find out why, plus how they navigated inside the Buffalos getup and whether they’ll be reprising any of their Masked Singer songs on the road.

PEOPLE: What was going through your mind when Nick announced Buffalos as the winners?

WANYA MORRIS: Thank God! We did not want to lose. It would literally suck to have to put on those Buffalo suits as many times as we had to, to sweat, to be dehydrated and to be so uncomfortable and not walk away with anything but a pat on your back. What was going through our mind at that point in time was, “Thank God that this was not something that we just did in vain.”

PEOPLE: So you came in wanting to win it all?  

NATHAN MORRIS: No, we didn't. We came in wanting to leave the first show. We do so many performances around throughout the year and during that time they wanted to film, we only had two weeks off. Nobody really wanted to do it because we just wanted to go home. So we were hoping to try to just sing it real crazy and have them kick us off. But it didn't work.

WANYA: Once we got there, it's the old Mr. Rogers lyric: "Now that we are here, we just might as well stay. Could you be mine?"

PEOPLE: Who took the most convincing to agree to go on the show?

NATHAN: We all on the same vibe. We all just wanted to just not do it. And then once we got locked into it, we all got falling down the rabbit hole.

WANYA: There was nothing that could stop us. Once we realized that it was a real competition and we saw them singers on there, we were like, "Oh hell no. We're not going to lose to singers." We mustered up the energy, the vocal ability, the camaraderie, the connection and we were like, "Look, let's just go, man. If they know who we are, then they just going to know who they going to get."

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PEOPLE: How was it performing as Buffalos?

WANYA: The only thing that made performing in the Buffalo suits easy was that they didn't know who we were. We could be whoever we wanted to be or whatever we wanted to be, act however we wanted. It's basically like Superman putting on his cape and the S on his chest. But to put on a whole 'nother costume and perform songs that aren't ours, it was pretty rough. Dehydration, major tired, sweating profusely, walking into each other, bumping into each other, stepping on each other’s feet because of the big giant shoes we had on, those things were obstacles that we had to get over, which made the end game so much more emotional because we did it together as a team.

PEOPLE: Has anyone reached out over the last couple of months suspecting you guys were on the show?

SHAWN STOCKMAN: Absolutely.

WANYA: Of course. And I am the best at acting as if I don't know what the hell they're talking about. "What? Masked Singer?" And then I'll top it off, "So, what actually is the show? Is it like a competition? Or is it just like who has the best costume?"

SHAWN: Right, right. "Yeah, I watch 'em."

PEOPLE: A big theme throughout the season is the bonds that the three of you have formed over the last three decades. What does that friendship mean to you all?

WANYA: The bond is very important. We started off in this group not even as friends. The first thing that we fell in love with about each other was our voices. To be able to do this together, it's a testament of the respect, love, camaraderie, brotherhood, family and friendship that we've created throughout 33 years. To come together under such diverse circumstance and bond together in unity and overcome to win, that's something that you can only do if you're brothers and family. That's what makes this journey so amazing. Sometimes we love each other, sometimes we don't like each other, but we never hate each other. We all understand that the goal is success. Under the circumstances of Masked Singer, we accomplished our mission and we are going home champions.

NATHAN: You just want to say that buff, don't you?

SHAWN: Yeah, you really do. It's weird.

NATHAN: I think you need leave that alone, bro.

WANYA: Nope. Y'all going to hear it at least 20 more times before we finish these things.

PEOPLE: Did they give you three trophies, or will you have to take turns sharing the one?

SHAWN: Hope they do. They haven't sent them to us yet.

NATHAN: They got a big budget.

SHAWN: Yeah, they should be able to afford three trophies.

Related: How 'The Masked Singer' Works: All About Fox's Celebrity Singing Competition

PEOPLE: Can we expect to see any of Buffalos’ Masked Singer selections in any upcoming concerts?

WANYA: We're already starting to put those things in a place right now, because it's something that's necessary. We are constantly doing shows throughout the year. We do a little bit over 80-something shows a year. We have the biopic, the documentary that we're going to be working on sometime this year, hopefully to be released 2026 or end of this [coming] year. We are cocked and loaded and ready to pull the trigger on a few things that we got in the works, and we're really excited. Thirty-three years is a long time, and we plan on making the rest of our time here eventful and very, very happy.

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The Masked Singer season 12 is streaming on Hulu.

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