Grammy Award-winning actor and hip-hop legend Ice-T earned the distinction of becoming the first celebrity booted from “The Masked Dancer.” On Sunday’s series premiere, the “Law & Order: SVU” star couldn’t find his rhythm on the dance floor and was forced to pull off his Disco Ball mask in front of America. Watch the Disco Ball dance to “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars above.
SEE See all 62 ‘The Masked Singer’ costumes and celebrity reveals through the years
“I thought you had [me] when you said, ‘Old school,'” the rapper admitted to the panel during his unmasked interview with host Craig Robinson. “Absolutely the craziest thing that I’ve ever done. But my daughter watched ‘The Masked Singer’ and at first I was like, ‘Meh,’ but as soon as I saw Lil’ Wayne take the helmet off I was like, okay this is cool. Then when I saw Busta [Rhymes] take it off I was like, ‘I’mma get a call eventually.’ I’m very excited to be here. This is very cool.”
Although Ice-T wasn’t the best dancer of the bunch, he did manage to fool the panel of judges, all of whom guessed failed to guess his true identity. Brian Austin Green thought the Disco Ball was another rapper, LL Cool J. Ken Jeong went with crooner Smokie Robinson. Paula Abdul guessed actor Ving Rhames and Ashley Tisdale thought the Disco Ball was singer Lionel Richie.
Despite the panel’s failure to name Ice-T as the Disco Ball, there were plenty of hints in his clue package pointing out his true identity. The glass of iced tea directly referenced his name, Ice-T. The shark fin was a nod to Ice-T’s character “Fin” on “Law & Order: SVU.” There was also a judge’s gavel seen in the package which was a reference to his hit TV show.
Ice-T became the first dancer unmasked from Group A. He was outdanced by Tulip, Cricket, Hammerhead and Exotic Bird. The dancers competing in Group B on January 6 will be Zebra, Sloth, Moth, Ice Cube and Cotton Candy. In the end, only one of these masked dancers will win the coveted Diamond Mask trophy. Did you guess Ice-T was hiding behind the Disco Ball mask?
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