The Skunk was unmasked during the Group A Finals on The Masked Singer as R&B legend Faith Evans. The 48-year-old singer dazzled us week after week with incredible performances, including a rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Loved YOU).” Faith spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife about her Masked Singer experience, including singing underneath that lavish costume!
“The very first performance was extremely hard for me because I couldn’t breathe under there,” Faith admitted. “I was semi-panicking because I didn’t want my vocals to be affected by the fact that I was almost choking on my sweat.” She revealed there were like “four layers” to the Skunk costume, which made it “difficult” to perform in. “The mask was very, very hard to get used to, but we made some adjustments to get some more air holes and stuff,” she added.
During the Group A Finals, Faith performed a duet of “Aint No Mountain High Enough” with Michael Bolton. Faith teased on the show that she and Michael had performed together once before and revealed the story behind their past connection to HollywoodLife. “It was super cool because about 15 years ago, Michael and I were at a party at someone’s house in Malibu and it was really late at night,” she said. “I think he was up at the piano. My friend was like, ‘Go up there!’ We ended up singing like three or four songs together that night. When he heard that in the clue package, I could see him trying to figure out and remember, ‘Who could this be?’ He probably won’t remember that night until he finds out who I am.”
Robin Thicke was the panelist who guessed Faith during the Group A Finals, and Faith was also his First Impression guess. Faith admitted that she was “not one bit surprised” that Robin guessed her identity correctly. “He was absolutely the one that I knew would know the voice,” Faith told HollywoodLife. “We had a duet that we released on his record. I used to go to his house for like a month straight trying to write stuff with him. We have a cool rapport even though we don’t see each other that often.”
Faith loved her experience on The Masked Singer. The show was her first time performing in over 3 years. She opened up about what this journey has meant to her.
“I certainly am reassured that when I want to make it happen, I can get up and make it happen,” she said. “I haven’t performed in over three years. I have been just caring for my son and taking care of those specifics that he needs in place. It’s not like I sing around the house every day. I haven’t been recording, but it did remind me that I can still do this. I can get up there and make it happen.” The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on FOX.