Speaking to 10 play over the phone, Kyle said leading up to the performance he felt like he had bitten off more than he could chew.
“It was fun to do but exhausting carrying that outfit around and having to learn the words because I’m obviously not a singer, but once it was done it was fabulous,” he said. “To see everyone’s shocked faces was great.”
Having stepped onto The Masked Singer stage for just one night, Kyle said he can’t imagine how the other celebrities have done it for several weeks.
“It’s a nightmare! The whole cloak and dagger, sneaking around and hiding from photographers and hiding from judges,” he added. While the show did approach him to compete full-time, Kyle said he couldn’t commit to the rehearsals, group performances and on top of all that the ongoing secrecy of it all.
“I’m terrible at secrets,” he admitted, adding that on more than one occasion he had to bite his tongue when Jackie was talking about what it’s like to be backstage on the show.
“I went to say yeah, yeah but then I thought oh no I’m not supposed to know!
“I love the show, I know all the judges but I just thought I can do one — that’s easy — You want to be on that thing because it looks like so much fun and I’ve got a lot of friends that have kids and they just love it all,” he continued, “but I thought it’s a big undertaking to do the whole season.
“Imagine if I had gotten right through to the end! Oh I would have hated myself,” he said, laughing.
Performing one night only as Paw Patrol’s Rubble, Kyle sang ‘Drops of Jupiter’ after the panel saw a series of cryptic clues. With each of the panel knowing Kyle, the radio host assumed they’d all figure out his identity as soon as he started singing, but the four of them were stumped.
“I know the clues are super cryptic but I thought as soon as I open my mouth Jackie would know,” Kyle said. But watching her struggle to connect the voice to a name was part of the joy for the radio host.
“I do remember when I was up on judging panels on other shows myself, sometimes what you hear on TV is much cleaner and more obvious than when you’re in the room,” Kyle said, giving the guessing panel the benefit of the doubt.
“There are people yelling, there’s music, echos, so what we see on TV is very clean and in the room sometimes it’s harder. Jackie told me ‘Oh I couldn’t understand...’ Trying to wriggle out of the fact that she had no idea that it was the man she has sat opposite for 21 years of her life… and I’ve sung a million songs to her face! No idea!
“I couldn’t have been happier with the result,” he said. “Watching her shocked and slumping backwards into her chair, that was priceless for me.”
The Masked Singer Australia airs Sunday-Tuesday at 7.30 on 10 and 10 play
