Of the four celebrities to perform on “The Masked Singer” on February 6, three — the Bee, Monster and Peacock — perform their routines like professional entertainers. To our ears, the fourth contestant, the Raven, sounds like someone who has come to singing later in life. Don’t be led astray by that wild speculation by Nicole Scherzinger that it is Raven Symone or that total guess by Jenny McCarthy that its Sherri Shepherd.
We’ve been studying the clues that the Raven gave in the pre-recorded videos as well as her performances and her sly answer to the judges questions. Piecing the puzzle together, we are certain in our reasoning as to who is hidden beneath this elaborate costume and mask. Spoilers ahead.
We are all but certain that the Raven is actress and talk show host Ricki Lake. Her third clues video showed us a positive pregnancy test. Lake produced and appeared in the award-winning 2008 documentary “The Business of Being Born,” which chronicled her pregnancy.
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Her choice of songs have revealed a lot about the real-life of the Raven. She sang “Rainbow” in her first appearance and said that it helped her deal with the loss of her beloved. Ricki’s ex-husband, Christian Evans, died in 2017. In her second appearance she took on “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga, which could reflect her dating life.
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The Raven readily admitted that being on the show has taken her places she never thought she would have the courage to revisit. She revealed that she had been a lonely girl and that no one had recognized her beauty till one man came to town and took her away. Ricki was discovered in 1988 by film director John Waters, who cast her in as the lead, Tracy Turnblad, in the smash hit “Hairspray.” And the Raven made a plea to “don’t cry baby,” which is reference to Ricki’s cameo in the John Waters’ comedy “Cry-Baby” starring Johnny Depp.
Back in week 2, the Raven admitted to Jenny that she had hosted a talk show. Ricki has done that twice over. In 1994 she made TV history when, at age 24, she became the youngest person to ever have their own talk show. It ran for 11 years. Her return to the world of talk shows in 2012 only lasted one season but won her a Daytime Emmy.
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We won’t find out for sure if Ricki is the Raven till she is unmasked. That will only happen if she loses a match-up or wins the show. Do you think we are right about the true identity of the Raven? Sound off in the comments section with your best guesses.
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