FOX THE MASKED SINGER: The Leopard. THE MASKED SINGER premiered Wednesday, Sept. 25 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
The Leopard returns to The Masked Singer stage in episode 8, airing on Wednesday, November 20. The performer, in their elaborate and figure-concealing costume and British-accented voice, has entertained the show’s audience week after week. If the Leopard if eliminated in episode 8, fans will finally know their identity. But if not? Well, we’ll have to keep piecing together clues and making our best guesses.
The official synopsis for episode 8 reads “Four of the remaining eight celebrities take on their next round of dazzling performances. Host Nick Cannon and panelists Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke attempt to guess the identities of fully costumed Hollywood stars as they battle in TV’s biggest singing competition. Collectively, all of the Season Two undercover celebrities have amassed 69 Emmy Award nominations, 42 Grammy Award nominations, 22 Broadway shows, three New York Times Best Sellers and two have been named TIME magazine’s Most Influential People.” Episode 8 has promised fans the biggest reveal yet of a “true star.”
While this description is helpful in reminding viewers that the season 2 cast is a talented bunch, it doesn’t help us figure out the Leopard’s identity. So, what DO we know about the Leopard so far, and who do we think is the star performing beneath the disguise?
This post will be updated live as episode 8 airs revealing more clues and guesses about the Leopard.
‘The Masked Singer’ Leopard Clues
The Leopard is dressed in a royal Baroque costume, which was “Super Sneak Peek” designed to hide the celebrity’s body shape. Similarly, although The Leopard speaks with a British accent, the voice could be a fake to throw off the judges and audience members.
In the premiere, The Leopard also provided a major clue, teasing “I’ve been spotted with the president.” They also said “I’m adaptable and can survive anywhere, even under the hard conditions.”
Acknowledging that people tend to care most about their “celebrity aspect,” they said that during The Masked Singer competition, “I really don’t care what they say about what I’m wearing.”
At the start of the Leopard’s episode 8 clue package, he said “Each time I step out on the stage, I discover things that were inconceivable without a mask.” The Leopard then revealed “I set myself free for the first time” when they were a teenager.
“Catwalk” was another key phrase, and the Leopard even did a runway-style walk down a red-carpeted catwalk as people stood watching on either side.
Returning to the idea of embracing who they are, they said “I’ll never forget that moment when I chose to just be me.”
The judges pointed out a baseball bat and the Australian flag as potential visual clues.
The Leopard teased the judges with another clue after his performance of September, saying that it’s been so exciting performing on The Masked Singer, before adding “but how utterly shocked my little ones are going to be when they find out it’s me.”
Leopard on ‘The Masked Singer’ Guesses
On Twitter after the season 2 premiere of the popular talent competition, a number of fans wondered if the celebrity behind the mask could be RuPaul’s Drag Race host and star RuPaul. Others offered Dennis Rodman as their first guess. In the promo clip released ahead of episode 8, Nicole Scherzinger seems to agree with fans’ initial impulses and throws out RuPaul’s name as a plausible identity for the Leopard.
Jamie Foxx has also been a past guess for the man behind the Leopard, but while the judges still believe Jamie Foxx is a secret competitor on the show, they now believe he’s hiding, ironically, behind the Fox mask.
After the Leopard’s performance, Ken Jeong guessed that the celebrity is Donald Glover.
At first, Nicole Scherzinger guessed RuPaul due to references to “Glamazon” and “Champion,” she predicted that the Leopard is Seal; Robin Thicke agreed.
Joel McHale jokingly guessed Alec Baldwin.
Tune in to new episodes of The Masked Singer season 2, Wednesday nights at 8/7c on FOX.