Cotton Candy has been a front-runner to win the inaugural season of “The Masked Dancer” since she vaulted into the competition after a nearly dance-ending fall while practicing an aerial stunt for her debut performance. The fearless sugary confection proved to be resilient when she rebounded with five flawless routines that earned rave reviews from panelists Paula Abdul, Brian Austin Green, Ken Jeong and Ashley Tisdale. Now she’s hoping to wrap her sticky fingers around the Diamond Mask trophy and become the first masked celebrity to win the Fox reality TV dancing competition.
Cotton Candy delivered her first performance in Episode 2, wowing the panel with an acrobatic routine to “Glitter in the Air” by Pink. Her graceful, precise movements combined with her confidence and stage presence convinced Paula that this colorful performer was a trained dancer. In Episode 3 Cotton Candy showed a more fun side, dancing a choreographed routine to “Sour Candy” by Lady Gaga. Her flexibility and athleticism quickly led Ashley to predict that Cotton Candy was a gymnast, professional dancer or figure skater.
SEE ‘The Masked Dancer’ Finale Clues For Top 3: Cotton Candy, Sloth and Tulip
The sticky and sweet ball of energy powered her way into the Super Six and showed off her quick footwork with a flirtatious routine to “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis. In the Top 5 episode Cotton Candy upped her game even further by mixing ballet and hip-hop into her show-closing performance to “Swan Lake Opus 20. Acto I Finale” by Tchaikovsky. To vault her way into the finale, Cotton Candy nailed a cheer-themed routine to a medley of “Get Ready for This” by 2 Unlimited and “Mickey” by Toni Basil in the semifinals. Ken said she was peaking at just the right moment in the competition and that he loved her competitive spirit.
In her various clue packages we have gotten multiple hints as to who Cotton Candy truly is. She admits to being a perfectionist, but things in her life haven’t always been so sweet. We know that she moved away from her family to pursue her dreams when she was just a kid. She mentioned that it was hard for her to balance practice with everything else in life and she missed out on a lot of milestones. We saw an image of an English breakfast, which may imply that she has some connection to London, and we’ve seen multiple references to lips, which could suggest she has a makeup line — or perhaps she just talks a lot? At this point we’re pretty certain she is an Olympian who started young.
With each passing performance the panelists seem to inch closer to guessing Cotton Candy’s identity. They seem convinced she’s one of the younger dancers this season and they’re fairly certain she’s a professional athlete or a trained dancer. Some of the famous faces they have claimed Cotton Candy to be include singer Pink, dancers/actresses Jenna Dewan, Julianne Hough and Hayden Panettiere, figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Kristi Yamaguchi and gymnasts Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas.
The celebrities that failed to keep up with Cotton Candy were Ice-T as the Disco Ball, Bill Nye as the Ice Cube, Elizabeth Smart as the Moth, Brian McKnight as the Cricket, Vinny Guadagnino as the Hammerhead, Jordin Sparks as the Exotic Bird and Oscar De La Hoya as the Zebra. She will face off against the Sloth and the Tulip on Wednesday, February 17 for the Diamond Mask trophy. Are you betting on Cotton Candy to take home the title?
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