FOX Cotton Candy in the finale of "The Masked Dancer."
During the season 1 finale of The Masked Dancer, Cotton Candy was crowned the show’s first-ever winner. When she took off her mask, she revealed herself as an unexpected celebrity.
So, who is the Cotton Candy? MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!
When Cotton Candy Took Off Her Mask, She Revealed Herself As…
… Gabby Douglas!
Douglas is a professional gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. In 2012, she was the Olympic all-around champion and was also the 2015 World all-around silver medalist.
For their final guesses, Brian Austin Green guessed Tara Lipinski, Ken Jeong guessed Michelle Kwan, Paula Abdul guessed Gabby Douglas, and Ashley Tisdale guessed Simone Biles. Abdul was the only panelist to guess correctly.
When host Craig Robinson announced that she won, Cotton Candy got choked up expressing what her time on The Masked Dancer meant to her, saying “Being the Cotton Candy has been such an amazing journey.”
After she took off her mask, Douglas said, “This experience has been so amazing.” When asked if it was a challenge to tumble in her costume and mask, Douglas said, “It’s my job to make it look super light, but I’ve never done anything like this before,” adding it was her first time performing without being judged.
All season, the judges guessed that Cotton Candy was likely a professional athlete, going back and forth on if they thought she was a gymnast or an ice skater. When the Cotton Candy suffered a scary aerial fall during rehearsals, which she quickly recovered from, the panelists noted that the way she fell to protect her body from an injury reminded them of how a gymnast would have been trained to fall when performing.
Cotton Candy ‘The Masked Dancer’ Finale Recap
Before the Cotton Candy’s season finale performance, she revealed a new, never-before-seen clue hinting at her celebrity identity. Cotton Candy revealed a hand with 25 fingers as her shadow puppet, saying that you can always count on her.
In her final video clue package of the Cotton Candy said that before being on The Masked Dancer, “my world was full of judgment.” In spite of her enjoyable experience on the show, she revealed that “not everything has been a perfect 10.” She also teased “my training gives me the courage to soar,” even if she’s less comfortable on the dance floor than her competitors.
Prayer hands were highlighted as an important clue from her package. She said, “I am a champion.”
Cotton Candy’s final Word-Up clue was “foundation.” Paula Abdul wondered if this was in reference to makeup, but it was likely hinting at her gymnastics background.
After Douglas took off her mask, the show explained that the clue from Cotton Candy’s package in which she held a chocolate bar over her head was in reference to Douglas’s book Raising the Bar. There were numerous references to gold medals and Team USA throughout the Cotton Candy’s clues during the season.
The season 1 finale of The Masked Dancer aired on Wednesday, February 17 at 8/7c on FOX.