TV

The Masked Singer's Llama on his exit: 'There is no way you should take this seriously'

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Published on February 5, 2020 09:00PM EST

THE MASKED SINGER: The Llama. CR: Michael Becker / FOX. © 2020 FOX MEDIA LLC. — Photo: Michael Becker/FOX

Warning: This post contains spoilers about The Masked Singer season 3, episode 2.

The Llama is not feeling let down.

Though Drew Carey became the latest contestant to get the boot on The Masked Singer, he doesn’t feel any sense of frustration that he failed to make it past week two. “There’s no way you can take this show seriously as a singing talent show,” he tells EW.

Here, the host of The Price is Right talks about his musical background, his “well-fitted” costume, and not taking himself too seriously on Fox’s top-rated reality show.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s start with the Llama’s tongue. It’s all anyone could talk about with Shakira and the Super Bowl halftime show, and The Masked Singer was on right after. What did you think of it? Did it get in the way of your singing and dancing?
DREW CAREY: The costume was so easy. It was really well-fitted to me and super comfortable. The back part didn’t weigh a thing and it was meant to be snug on my hips. The costumers are like world-class, obviously. I was sweating so much underneath that costume, though. The first song especially, I was drenched and so uncomfortable. When I went out to do that first song, I didn’t do that great. When I went back to my dressing room I took a shower. It was insane how drenched I was when I got done with that first number.

So did Wayne Brady, who won last season as the Fox, inspire you to do the show?
No. He was already done with the show when they asked me. He didn’t tell me [when he was on], but people were tweeting at me like, “Hey, your boy Wayne Brady’s on The Masked Singer” and would send me clips. I watched and was like, “Yeah, that’s definitely Wayne Brady. I don’t know who he’s trying to fool.” When they asked me to do it, I was like, “Oh yeah, why not? That’d be really fun to do.”

How did it get in the way of your day job hosting The Price is Right?
It tapes right around the corner. It’s like a 100-yard walk from The Price is Right. It was really kind of tricky. I would have to go to a custom fitting while I was on The Price is Right. I can walk there in a minute to one of the bungalows. Everybody I know from The Price is Right is out walking and going to lunch. But I had to pretend I was going some place for lunch so I put on a jacket and hoped nobody saw me run in and get the costume fitting. It was kind of insane. And then the stage manager for The Masked Singer had been the stage manager for The Price is Right for like four years. We saw each other and talked every day. But you can’t talk to people [on The Masked Singer]. When I finally told him who I was, he just started laughing and said he had no idea.

Did anyone at The Price is Right suspect anything?
No. A lot of people didn’t know except for those few people on Twitter who kind of figured it out. My ex figured it out right away. My kids figured it out.

You took singing lessons for ABC’s made-for-tv musical remake of Geppetto in 2000, right? Is that the first time you had lessons?
Yeah. I also did these local Hollywood Bowl shows every summer. That’s something! I’m pretty self-aware. I know why they have someone like me on a show like this. It’s not because they think I’m going to win or go deep. I just didn’t want to embarrass myself. I treated it like everybody should treat it … It’s celebrity karaoke with a mask. I just pretend like I’m at a karaoke bar where I don’t expect to walk out with a record contract. People in the bar go like, “Wow, that was pretty good.” That’s all you want.

You said you’ve watched in the past. Do you think anyone ever got robbed of the title?
You know what? That is so unimportant, that kind of stuff. Everybody has their own motivation, but if your motivation is all, “I’m gonna win this contest and show everybody I’ve been real,” you’re in the wrong show. You have to treat it like karaoke and if you win, you win. It’s like if you were doing karaoke at an office party and they gave you a little joke trophy that you could put in your cubicle. That’s how I treated it. There’s no way you can take this show seriously as a singing talent show, I don’t know how good of a singer you are. I mean, you want to do well, personally, especially if you’re a good singer and a professional singer. But as far as winning this, forget it. You don’t need any of this! It’s just a goof, the whole thing.

The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

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