‘The Masked Singer’ Winner T-Pain Admits He ‘May Not Have Been Sober’ When He Agreed To Compete On Show

The Masked Singer’s first winner isn’t really sure why he agreed to do this year’s breakout reality show. During an appearance on the Today show, rapper T-Pain revealed that he received a “weird” pitch for the wacky Fox singing competition and may not have been in full control of his mind when he agreed to do it, per USA Today.

When asked why he decided to do The Masked Singer, the 33-year-old musician admitted he didn’t really know why he agreed to don an oversized monster suit to sing autotuned tunes, especially since he thought the concept of the show, which was derived from a popular Korean format, was “stupid” when he first heard it.

“I really don’t know. ‘Cause it was a weird pitch. I may not have been sober when I heard it, but it worked out. …Just think of trying to pitch that show to somebody. At first, when I heard it, I was like, ‘Man, this is probably the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life.'”

T-Pain explained that what sold him on the show was the fuzzy bright blue Monster costume that he eventually got to wear during his performances.

“I didn’t really get into it until I saw the choices for the costume. Once I saw Monster, I was like, ‘I just want to wear that thing.’ I wasn’t going to pass by that Monster.”

Once he did agree to compete on The Masked Singer, T-Pain revealed that he was planning on getting kicked off on the very first episode. But fans had another plan for him. While T-Pain competed against costumed superstars like Donny Osmond (The Peacock) and Gladys Knight (The Bee), fans repeatedly picked his performances as their favorite.

As for why he eventually won the first U.S. season of The Masked Singer, T-Pain explained he thinks he exuded the most “fun” in his performances and that every week he felt like he’d go out with a “bang.” Except he never went.

With one Masked Singer season down, fans can expect even more surprises for Season 2. But don’t expect to see another star hidden in that Monster costume that T-Pain made famous.

In an interview on the Best of Shows podcast, The Masked Singer executive producer Craig Plestis teased there will be “a whole new batch of characters” next season and every season after, should the hit show continue to get renewed.

While Plestis explained that the show will always feel “fresh and different” with never-before-seen masks, he promised that some of the beloved older characters—like T-Pain’s Monster— could make a return cameo for nostalgia’s sake.

“You also might see some of the older characters come back, but not in a competition way,” Plestis said.

You can see T-Pain talking about his Masked Singer win in the video below.