Of the four remaining contestants on season 1 of “The Masked Dancer,” the Sloth is one of the best and he could well win the Diamond Mask. He had four judges (Paula Abdul, Brian Austin Green, Ken Jeong, Ashley Tisdale) rocking in their seats when he danced to “Twist Remix” by Neeraj Shridhar on February 3. That routine earned Sloth a slot in the Top 4 competing again on February 10.
We’ve rewatched all of Sloth’s slides across the dance floor including those from earlier episodes: “What I Like About You” by The Romantics on January 6;”Up Where We Belong” by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes on January 13; and “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” by Dean Martin on January 27. And we’ve reviewed his four clues videos again.
We agree with the judges that Sloth is a professional dancer. However, we think they failed to nail his name in their guesses. Keep reading for all “The Masked Dancer” spoilers for season 1, including the real name of the Sloth.
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We are absolutely certain that the Sloth is Maksim Chmerkovskiy who was a professional partner on “Dancing With the Stars” for 17 seasons.
The Sloth’s partner says he speaks three languages. Chmerkovskiy was born in the Ukraine, and speaks his native country’s language as well as Russian and English. Ukraine has a blue and yellow flag (we saw those colors in the first clues video.) Chmerkovskiy has been dancing since he was four. However his dreams of dancing professionally were almost shattered when he was 13 and broke his right leg skiing; the Sloth said he had an childhood accident that was a challenge to overcome.
As a group, “The Masked Dancer” contestants have appeared on Broadway three times; Maksim starred in “Burn the Floor” in 2009 and “Forever Tango” in 2013. That former show was referenced with the image of the burning room in the clues video. (Jordin Sparks, who was the Exotic Bird, accounted for the third appearance.)
The Sloth said he is not new to the dance floor and will do a new dance style every week to get to the trophy. That is just what Chmerkovskiy had to do on “Dancing with the Stars.” He took his various partners to the final of “DWTS” five times. He finally won in season 18 (that number was given as a super clue for the Sloth) with his partner, Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis (her initials were seen in a clues video).
Their trophy was a mirrorball. That was shown in two parts — mirror and ball — in the second clues video. And the show’s initials were referenced as well with a shot of the Dentist Whitening Tooth System – DWTS.
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Four of Maksim’s other partners on “Dancing with the Stars” were referenced in the two clues video: GLEEm toothpaste for “Glee” star Heather Morris (season 24); “D.R.” for actress Denise Richards (season 8); a bug embedded in amber for model Amber Rose (season 23); and a red Solo cup with the number “13” for soccer player Hope Solo (season 13)
The Sloth readily admits to “a very special love for The Nutcracker,” which is often performed at Christmas. When Maksim married another “DWTS” pro, Peta Murgatroyd, in 2017, Tchaikovsky’s music for this beloved ballet rang out during the ceremony. In the second clues video, we saw the Sloth propose to one of the other dancers. And in the third, the Sloth says he is missing his family; he and Peta welcomed a son, Shai Aleksander, on January 4, 2017.
Before joining “DWTS” in season 2, Chmerkovskiy competed at the professional level in the International Latin category and won 10 titles; as a group, “The Masked Dancer” contestants can brag of 11 such world titles.
The Sloth is certainly one of the most athletic of the 10 contestants on season 1 of “The Masked Dancer.” His costume consists of workout gear and he was able to leap and bound around the stage.
We will only find out for sure that Maksim Chmerkovskiy is the Sloth when he is unmasked. That will only happen if he loses a match-up or wins the competition. Do you think we are right about the real name of the Sloth? Sound off in the comments section with your best guesses.
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Be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the next episode airs on Fox. You’ll compete to win eternal bragging rights and a spot on our “The Masked Dancer” Season 1 leaderboard. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
