Season 2 of The Masked Singer is heating up. The third reveal of the season was Panda. The identity behind the shy but powerful beast was none other than the four-time undefeated boxing champion, Laila Ali. The daughter of the late legendary heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.
On The Masked Singer, celebrities perform for an audience and four judges: Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke. At the end of each episode of The Masked Singer, the audience votes for their favorite masked singer, and the loser must reveal their identity. Each week, the celebrity performers reveal small clues through brief video clips.
Laila Ali, a TV personality, Best-selling author, inspirational speaker, cooking enthusiast, actress, and four-time undefeated boxing champion, has been revealed to be under the shy Panda costume. The youngest daughter of the late beloved global icon and humanitarian, Muhammad Ali, has made a name for herself in boxing as a two-time hall of famer and four-time undefeated champion. The Panda stumped both the viewers and the judges, the clues left them scratching their head. The Panda performed female power anthems, on the second episode she sang "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson.
The clues that had everyone stumped seem so obvious in hindsight. In the Panda's clue video, she dedicated this performance to her "papa bear," and said she admired his "humble strength." The Panda revealed that she was from "the world's greatest family in the forest." There were also clues leading to her father's famous quote when they showed a bee. The judges, however, didn't seem to pick up on these somewhat obvious clues, as they guessed Panda could be either tennis star Venus Williams, domestic diva Martha Stewart, or even talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
After she went head to head in the smackdown performance and lost to Leopard, Panda was unmasked. Ali revealed backstage after the reveal that singing was something she's "always wanted to do, but was too shy to do" because she lacked confidence in her voice. Even though Ali said she was "a ball of nerves" on the stage, she remains happy about the experience, calling it "amazing." The woman of many hats then encouraged others that facing fears means that they have to "get uncomfortable before you get comfortable sometimes," and that she's proud that she faced her fears of performing. She said that she never wanted to feel like she didn't try and didn't do her absolute best.
Panda was unmasked and it was a shock to the judges and the audiences because, despite the many clues, they had no idea it was Ali behind the mask. Host Nick Cannon claimed that he knew it was Ali all along, especially after she playfully punched him in the arm. Another Masked Singer has been revealed, but there are still the thirteen other contestants still battling it out to be number one.
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8pm EST on Fox.
Source: The Masked Singer