Yahoo Finance The Masked Singer 's Hamster dishes on why pals Adam Sandler and Chris Rock would never do the show
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Wednesday night's episode of The Masked Singer.
The Hamster has spun his wheels right off of The Masked Singer.
The series' latest episode, which was time travel-themed, featured blast from the past performances of Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" (Bull), Ariana Grande's "No Tears Left to Cry" (Pepper), and Teena Marie's "Square Biz" (Skunk). Taking a page out of the playbook of Group B's Queen of Hearts, Hamster opted to sing a song entirely in a different language. Instead of French though, the fluffy fiend sang a Spanish love song — Luis Miguel's "Sabor a Mí" — as a dedication to his wife.
Then, the Wildcard fun continued with the truly horrifying reveal of Jester, who sang Alice Cooper's "School's Out." To make nightmares more potent, it seems whoever is behind that mask is fully leaning into the Jester persona.
Unfortunately for our collective sleep prospects, the Jester remained in the competition, as did Skunk, Bull, and Pepper. Sadly, it was the adorable Hamster mask's turn to go home. It was another mediocre showing for the panelists, although in all fairness, some of the guesses this week were much closer to the mark than they've been in past weeks.
FOX
Robin Thicke's first impression guess was Cheech Marin, and he stuck with that. Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg wanted to have her cake and eat it too, because she put down Andy Richter OR Jason Alexander. In the end, she went with neither and chose comedian Rob Schneider. Nicole Scherzinger had initially put Jason Alexander as well, but ultimately decided on Gabriel Iglesias, which guest panelist Leslie Jordan also guessed. Ken Jeong stayed in the comedian realm, with his first impression of Bill Murray and then with his final guess of Will Ferrell.
No one's first impression guess was correct, but McCarthy-Wahlberg's final guess was — Hamster was indeed Emmy-nominated comedian, actor, and Saturday Night Live vet Rob Schneider.
Below, EW chats with Schneider about which of his famous friends should do the show next, what he took away from his time on the show, and more.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Are you excited for the reveal tonight?
ROB SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I am! Well, I think everybody knows, you know? I can't believe people know my voice. That's always amazing to me.
Right. People were guessing you from your very first episode!
I know, isn't that something else? I had no idea. Sometimes you just don't realize that if you've been in the public eye for as many decades as I have, people really can recognize your voice. Sometimes they're just like, "Enough with that guy!" [Laughs] But I was happy to be on this. It's one of those shows that when I saw it, I was like, "Well, I would be perfect for that show."
How long did you want to be on the show?
Well, when I saw it after the first season I figured eventually they were gonna call me. [Laughs] And I don't mean that egotistically, I just mean I'm a comedian who can also sing a little bit. I think it's perfect, because it throws the audience off and it's fun.
fox
Did you ever think you'd be a giant hamster?
I don't think that that's the best choice for a costume, because you can't move in it. I think if I would have to do it all over again, I would have kept the hamster head and just gone with like a regular fur suit or something that would have been better. But they're geniuses, the costume people, they really are. The stuff that they come up with is fantastic. They just keep upping it and making it crazier, and then the producers are brilliant because they talk you into wearing it. I don't know how they got Toni Braxton to put on a dead fish — [mimics] "Oh no, Toni, people are definitely gonna love a dead fish" — and like for Dan, or Larry the Cable Guy, to wear a baby with like one tooth. That's a scary-looking, horror film-type baby. I wouldn't do that. So I felt like I got the gift of being a more likable character.
Larry the Cable Guy told me he loved the costume.
It scared children! I don't know if maybe he didn't want to stay many weeks on [the show], maybe that's why he chose that one, I don't know. [Laughs] But it's good also to have different ones. I mean really the brilliant part of the show is the costumes and how lovely the hosts are, because they really are the nicest.
Did you know Baby was Larry the Cable Guy?
Yes. I knew it was him. I could tell his body type was the same exact as the Baby.
Were you ready to go or sad to leave?
I wanted to do one more. I thought for sure I'd get to the fourth one, and that I was gonna stick around because I did the song in Spanish, which is not easy to do, but I guess America voted me off pretty quickly right after that song. When you first start, you don't want to be embarrassed and get kicked off first like Toni Braxton — I'm kidding, it's not really fair to pick on her — but thank God I didn't get kicked off first. And then if you stay on a couple of times, you're like, well, maybe I can get really far in this thing. And then part of your ego says, "Maybe I can win this whole thing." And then you see someone who's really super talented — like the Bull and the Pepper — and you go, "Wait a minute, I'm not a professional singer, and these are professional singers and dancers, and they're amazing." So you just feel lucky that you're in a Hamster outfit.
What song would you have done for your next performance?
"Amish Paradise" by Weird Al Yankovic.
Man, I'm sad we missed out on that.
Yeah, that's why I was sorry, too. They kicked me out one week too early. That would have blown up the internet.
You enjoyed really messing with host Nick Cannon. How did that come about?
You've got to go with what happens, and he's really easily uncomfortable. And I think he might have some issues being too close to people because you could tell he was visibly not comfortable, and I thought that was kind of funny. He's uncomfortable? I'm the one in a Hamster outfit and can't breathe because I have fur down my throat.
Michael Tullberg/Getty Images
Several of your clue packages referenced your fellow SNL alums or famous friends. Which of them do you want to see on the show next?
I don't think any of my friends could do it. They're claustrophobic. I think Adam Sandler would murder at it, he'd be great at it, but he's claustrophobic. I remember how many hours it took him to get into the fat suit on Click, so I don't see him climbing into a suit like that anytime soon. You know who might be really good at it? I think Kevin James might be the best of all the guys.
You know, it's funny you say that, because they do guess him a lot on the show.
He would be really good. He's such a lovely guy. He would be very good. I don't know about his singing, but I mean, there's nothing he can't do. So out of all my buddies I would say he'd be great and he would have fun because he's a real gamer. Chris Rock would never do it. He can't sing. David Spade, he's not getting in any suit anytime soon. Adam Sandler, whatever island he's on right now, I don't know, but he's not doing it.
Sometimes the fun of it is getting someone up there who can't sing at all, though.
Yeah, that's true. I'm very impressed with the show. I had a blast. I didn't have a good time, I had a great time. And it really is a great crew, and they're all having fun. It is really like a 1950s or 1970s TV show where it's pure silly and fun and it is infectious and beautiful. It has a little bit of a Gong Show feel to it because it's goofy and it's people who sing or can't sing, but then somebody will come and do this lights-out performance on the show like the Pepper, whoever that is, or the guy who reminds me of Nelly, the Bull. They're just super talented, and then it kind of takes you out of it for a minute and you forget about the costume and you're just hearing this amazing performance.
You've done a lot of things during your career. What did you take away from this experience?
To just throw yourself into something and just trust the people. I really did. I really trusted the producers, and trusted the costumers, and the people getting me dressed, and the people when you're backstage literally sticking the fan underneath your hamster head to give you a little bit of cool air. They really, really take the best care of you and they really want you to have a good time, and it's the number one show on TV for a reason. They were great at it. The producers could not have been nicer and more helpful and they ensure that you're having a good time, so I really can't thank them enough. I wish the rest of the show business was run like The Masked Singer.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
