Ricki Lake Reveals Behind The Scenes Info About ‘The Masked Singer’
Despite a bad back exacerbated by her complicated costume and being a self-admitted terrible liar, Ricky Lake raved about her experience as the raven on The Masked Singer, Madison.com reports. Lake revealed that her sciatica was exacerbated by the complicated raven costume, making it difficult to move. She also revealed that the experience could be isolating, as the logistics of the show meant minimal interaction with other performers or even staff.
Even so, the experience was “a million times easier” than Dancing with the Stars, in which Lake also participated. As for Masked Singer, one of the biggest challenges was the isolation.
“I didn’t have anyone accompanying me. I was alone and there was really little interaction – only on show day – when I would maybe see the Bee from far away,” she said.
According to Lake, the secrecy surrounding the show was one of the most difficult aspects for her, acknowledging that that she herself is a poor liar. When fans would ask her about the show, she was forced to pretend that she had no idea what they were talking about or else risk outing herself as the mystery star behind the raven costume.
The secrecy surrounding the day-to-day of the show extends to members of the live studio audience, all of whom must sign paperwork promising that they would not discuss show happenings or post on social media until after the episode aired.
“We did try every kind of piece of lawyer paper possible,” says Producer Craig Plestis, “but we asked them to join us in keeping it secret.”
The show was recently picked up for a second season, with producers claiming an increase in security and secrecy to avoid spoiling the results for those following along throughout the season.
Who do you think the Raven is on @MaskedSingerFOX? #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/UFCPJ9b8JO
— Eyewitness News (@wchs8fox11) February 7, 2019
In the end, show judge Robin Thicke was indeed able to guess Lake’s identify, pointing out that even in costume, he recognized Lake’s signature “hand over heart gesture” from her long-running talk show.
“I forgot that my show was such a phenomenon back in the day,” she said. That Thicke would notice “is just surreal. I’ve been in this business 30-plus years since ‘Hairspray’ and it’s just nice to still be welcomed back with open arms.”
In addition to enjoying the experience as a performer, Lake also expressed an interest in judging in a future season, saying that in today’s challenging political climate, distractions like Masked Singer are an important source of relief for many.
