Mickey Rourke sent shock waves through America on September 30 when he became the first contestant in “The Masked Singer” history to remove his mask voluntarily. Rourke had just finished singing Willie Nelson‘s version of “Stand By Me” and the panelists were giving their first impression guesses. However, before Nicole Scherzinger had a chance to name the mystery celebrity, Rourke started removing his purple Gremlin mask because it was too “hot.” Host Nick Cannon tried to stop the Oscar nominee for “The Wrestler” (2008), but it was too late.
Later on backstage, a show producer asked Rourke about the reason behind his Gremlin costume, and the grizzled actor confessed, “I liked it ’cause I wanted a friendly costume — a friendly, cuddly guy. I didn’t want it to be like whips and chains, you know? It’s something different than me.” Watch Fox’s post-show interview above.
Despite throwing in the towel, Rourke explained that his experience was “all fun.” He added, “I like the song so much. The panel is really cool. It was just really upbeat.” As for wanting to do his friend Nelson proud, Rourke teared up and said, “It was all about my feelings about Willie.”
“I love this costume,” he declared about the fuzzy, purple Gremlin. “Whoever put this together did a hell of a job. They should be able to wear it like — how many hours did I wear it today?” Of note, the show’s costume design team just won an Emmy at the 2020 Creative Arts.
Rourke is now the second celebrity to be unmasked on Season 4 of “The Masked Singer,” following Busta Rhymes (Dragon) in the first week. Only 14 secret celebrities remain in the reality TV competition: Baby Alien, Broccoli, Crocodile, Giraffe, Jellyfish, Lips, Mushroom, Popcorn, Seahorse, Serpent, Snow Owls, Squiggly Monster, Sun and Whatchamacallit. Who will be eliminated next?
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