“The Masked Singer”: More on the performance that almost went awry

DEVASTATION WARNING! This post contains details from Wednesday’s episode The masked singerincluding the identity of S’More.

Another one bites the dust The masked singer.

Wednesday’s episode featured a disco night showdown between S’More, Cow and Gazelle. After a rousing performance of “That’s The Way (I Like It)” by KC and the Sunshine Band, the campfire fun came to a close. But not before her identity was revealed as Ashley Parker Angel from O-Town.

If you’ve been following along this season, it will come as no surprise that judge Jenny McCarthy was delighted by the revelation, as she suspected the former boy on the night in the 2000s. She also redoubled her efforts during the disco night.

Parker Angel spoke to Deadline about his performance The masked singer Stage and the appearance that almost (literally) spelled an early doom for S’More.

Reporter: What inspired you to say “yes”? The masked singer?

ASHLEY PARKER ANGEL: Well, I’ve been on a break for a while and I’m a fan of The Masked Singer. Many family and friends who are also completely obsessed with the show. It is such a watchable and entertaining show that there is nothing else like it. This is a completely unique show. When the call came in, I honestly shared a lot of what I encountered. I haven’t had any entertainment in the past few years since the pandemic and this is just the perfect show at the perfect time. I can’t think of a better show to somehow return to the stage. So it’s very exciting to be a part of that.

Reporter: You have so much experience acting, but like you said, it’s been a while. Were nerves involved?

PARKER ANGEL: Oh, totally. Yes, absolutely, because as many times as I’ve performed, being from a boy band family and having experience performing on Broadway, I’ve never performed in a giant s’more costume. [with] really big marshmallow legs, a graham cracker body, a giant mask I’m sitting in. So there was an element of overcoming this challenge. And with each performance I felt I was getting a little better. But my podiums came back pretty quickly. I was very grateful for my background, especially on Broadway, because things always go wrong on Broadway. You must be so hot. To answer your question about nerves, there is such an adrenaline rush when it’s time for the show and the audience is there that there will always be nerves. No matter how experienced an artist you are, you will always have nerves. And that background helped me.

Reporter: Well, you said you can be on guard if something goes wrong. Did something turn out differently than you expected? The masked singer?

PARKER ANGEL: Actually the very first appearance. “Slow hands,” Niall [Horan] Being from One Direction, it was quite a nod to my boy band that I was in O-Town. Everyone always said he looked like my younger brother among all the different boy banders. So I thought it would be a fun nod to the history of boy bands. But I actually tripped while climbing the stairs. Right after the first verse I left the audience, went up the stairs and stumbled. I caught myself but it could have gone really wrong because I could have kicked down the stairs. There are moments when you are very close to the edge of the stage. And I’ll be honest: sometimes you can’t see well through the mask. So it’s a little scary because you might walk off the stage right away. When I stumbled into the first part of the song, I thought, “No, no, it can’t be like that… We’re not falling on stage.” Because if it happened, I don’t think I would have made it on my own, in this one to get up in a big costume. So you can’t let your mind go there. The show must go on. I caught myself and just got back into it. Luckily I caught myself and it didn’t actually land on my s’more butt. It would not have been good.

Reporter: On disco night, Jenny McCarthy says you seem to have gained confidence. You even did a few dance moves.

PARKER ANGEL: This was the exercise I got as a s’more. They said, ‘Are you ready to do the choreography?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah. “Give me all the choreography as much as we can.” That’s when I got really interested in the costume. And I thought, “Wow, this is a real challenge.” Since I’ve been focusing a lot on fitness over the past few years, I think that’s also given me an advantage. I came into the show in pretty good shape. So that helped. But to answer your question, with each performance I felt like I was learning a little more about how to perform in this s’more costume, which is a learning curve in itself.

Reporter: Did you expect someone to guess your identity? Jenny had it right on 2000’s Night, which was impressive.

PARKER ANGEL: I thought the same thing. I panicked a little when she guessed me: because it was the night of the 2000s. I thought, ‘Is it the night?’ It would have been a bit poetic because this is my era. This is my decade. But you know, I think S’More’s knowledge of dumbbell training was the deciding factor. I figured if anyone was going to get it, it would be Jenny because, like she said, she knows her MTV. There is clearly a boy band connection with Donnie [Wahlberg, McCarthy’s husband]. So I thought, maybe this is the night I go out. But then of course I had to do the pickle shot and S’More survived another round. But yeah, if they really guess you, you’re a little nervous. They don’t want to give it away either. You don’t want to do anything in your body that confirms this. Of course you want to keep it a secret. It was an interesting night where she actually guessed who I was because I thought a lot of the guesses got more heated as time went on.

Reporter: Did anyone in your life who maybe didn’t know you were doing the show suspect that you were behind S’More?

PARKER ANGEL: Yeah, and I didn’t respond to text messages. Especially when Jenny advised me, I started reaching a lot of people. But the whole show is designed to keep her mysterious. So you have to maintain that anonymity because that’s what it’s all about. That’s what makes it exciting.

Reporter: Do you have a favorite act?

PARKER ANGEL: I really enjoyed the disco night. At that point I became competitive because I was surviving. This is my fourth appearance. You should prepare to go out on the first night. You have no idea. So when I got to my fourth appearance, I thought, ‘The game is on.’ Let’s go the distance.’ So I like disco music. I love the 70s. “That’s The Way (I Like It)” by KC and the Sunshine Band is actually my favorite disco song of all time. It was really cool that I got to do it because I’ve been singing it my whole life. So I practiced a lot to sing that song, and they also gave me really cool choreography to do. And like I said, at that moment I felt like I was really getting a feel for this s’more costume. I felt that it might have been one of my best performances.