‘The Masked Singer’ Reveals the Identity of the Taco: Here’s the Star Under the Mask – Variety, Variety.com

Tom Bergeron just gave “ The Masked Singer ”viewers something to taco ’bout. The “Dancing with the Stars” host, who had performed in the Taco costume, was eliminated from “The Masked Singer” on Wednesday night.

Bergeron, who performed “Can’t Help Myself” by the Four Tops in the episode, called the experience “bizarre” but “wonderful.” “I think I lasted about as long as I deserve to,” he told Variety . “Maybe one or two would have been OK, but I had no delusions about going the distance.”

If anything, Bergeron admitted that he was a bit shocked that he lasted longer than last week’s eliminated celebrity, Dionne Warwick. “That stunned the hell out of me,” he said.

Bergeron’s exit this season follows Lil Wayne, Drew Carey, Chaka Khan, Tony Hawk, and Warwick. But unlike last week, when most of the panel figured out Warwick, they were completely in the dark on Bergeron.

Instead, Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong guessed Martin Short, while Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg thought it was Jerry Springer, Nicole Scherzinger named Barry Manilow and guest panelist T-Pain – the show’s Season 1 winner – guessed Kelsey Grammer.

“I was very surprised, especially given that Nicole won ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ Robin has performed a number of times on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ as a guest artist, and Jenny and I have known each other for years, ”Bergeron said. “The only one of the regular judges I did not really know was Ken, so I expected one of the other three to at least guess at one point, but they did not.”

Perhaps the closest came when Thicke guessed Bob Saget as the Taco in a previous episode. Saget, a fellow former host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” was the secret guest who appeared in this episode to talk about the Taco.

“We’ve been friends for years and he readily agreed to do it,” Bergeron said.

Bergeron was recruited to join “The Masked Singer” by showrunner Izzie Pick Ibarra, who previously served as an executive producer on “Dancing with the Stars.” “She saw I had done a song for a Mr. Rogers tribute album and asked if I’d be interested, and I thought, this could be fun. And it was. ”

For his first two songs, Bergeron performed “Fly Me to the Moon,” by Frank Sinatra, and “Bossa Nova Baby,” by Elvis Presley. Bergeron said he was happy with his Sinatra number, but was so worried about forgetting the Elvis lyrics that he forgot his dance steps.

“I described it as a‘ Taco-Franken-Elvis ’making his way across the stage,” he said. As for the taco outfit, Bergeron revealed that the hot sauce-style microphone he held was a prop.

“I actually had a mic under my tomato head,” he said. “But to try and move in the darn thing, there’s no peripheral vision, you have people guiding you backstage all the time.”

“The Masked Singer” is shot at CBS Television City, where “Dancing with the Stars” is also produced – and they even use the same stage. As a result, a lot of the crew members he’s worked with over the years on “Dancing,” including the director, lighting director and others in the booth, are also on “Masked Singer.”

So as a gag, Pick Ibarra put a camera in the control room to catch their reaction when he was revealed. “None of them had guessed either,” he said. “And their reaction was hilarious, when they realized it was somebody they had worked with for years and they still didn’t figure it out.”

“It was such fun, and it’s a great group of people,” Bergeron said. “Once I was finally able to take the mask off it was a wonderful reunion with quite a few people I had worked with over the years. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can figure out who the rest of Group B is, and who Group C is as well. ”

“The stage is like my second home, and I’m having a ball up there,” the Mouse said in the pre-taped package before her performance. “So I feel more determined than ever to stay anonymouse. But when I leave my good job in the city, there’s no place like my home squeak home. You think I ought to take a break. But I still have more stories to tell. And why quit something that still feels exciting and new? I truly cherish my rare time off to catch up on my favorite things. Starting a good romance novel, a little needlepoint – my secret talent – and a little wine and cheese to bond with my friends like you. Thanks for stopping by my mousepad. But now it’s time for this hostess with the mostest to get her game face on. Because there ain’t no stopping me now. ”

With the Elephant (Hawk), Mouse (Warwick) and Taco (Bergeron) now gone, that leaves Frog, Kitty and Banana moving on to the “Super Nine” face-off on the show. But first, the Group C contestants will begin their portion of the competition next week.

Here’s a recap of the other contestants and their performances on Wednesday: