Ellen Gets Inside Scoop with Masked Singer Winner — Plus, the One Person They Guessed Right

Despite what it may look like in the picture above, Ellen DeGeneres was not unmasked after winning Season 3 of “The Masked Singer.” But she did have the opportunity to interview the winner immediately after their victory from their home.

Unfortunately, it looks like the trophy — which the winner says producers did not allow them to have out of fear, perhaps, that they would reveal the results — somehow wound up in Ellen’s possession. But she did promise to send it along right away.

Video chatting from her own home to chat with Ellen in hers, Kandi Burruss was surely grateful that production on “The Masked Singer” was completed before the ongoing coronavirus pandemic shut down television productions across the globe.

In order to maintain its secrecy, “The Masked Singer” traditionally tapes its entire season before even airing the first episode. From there, it’s just hoping that all of the participants, judges and even audiences keep their mouths shut (we suspect contracts help with that).

For Kandi it meant a long wait for that coveted trophy — and now an even longer wait. But after waiting three seasons for a female to win the title, she’s probably more than happy to wait a few more days to make it official with the hardware.

When asked how important it was for her to be that first female winner (T-Pain and Wayne Brady won the first two seasons, respectively), Kandi said that it was actually her goal “once I got used to everything that was happening on the show.”

And that’s a lot to get used to, as other unmasked celebrities have shared since the blockbuster show crossed the ocean from South Korea to become the biggest sensation in reality television, just in time for the world to shut down.

“It took me a minute to get used to that, because it’s so hot,” Kandi said. “What you don’t know, like, all of the costumes are really, really hot on the inside. It was challenging.”

Other celebs have talked about restrictions in movement and even visibility that have hampered them on stage, though you’d never really notice it with the slick productions that hit the air every week.