Ken Jeong is placing his bets on Kieran Culkin as being one of the contestants taking the stage for The Masked Singer season 13 premiere.
“I know exactly who this is,” Ken, 55, told the crowd in a sneak peek of the February 12 premiere of the show shared by TV Insider. “This is Kieran Culkin of Succession, and the connection to Steve Martin is Father of the Bride.”
The season 13 premiere will be the introduction of five new singers: Ant, Coral, Paparazzo, Fuzzy Peas and Honey Pot, as they compete for the highly coveted Golden Mask trophy. The 10 remaining singers will be introduced in later episodes.
Ken joins panelists Robin Thicke, Rita Ora and Jenny McCarthy as they try to identify the celebrities hidden beneath elaborate costumes while performing songs. When Jenny, 52, asked The Hangover star if he was sure Kieran, 42, could sing, he replied, “He’s an Emmy winner. He can do it all.”
Season 13 is set to start with a bang as the show will open up with a performance of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” with some special guests from previous seasons, including season 12 runner-up Mario. In addition, season 13 is set to commemorate beloved franchises including Shrek, Ghostbusters, the 100th anniversary of The Grand Ole Opry and the iconic Rat Pack. Fans will also see exciting themed nights like Voices of Olympus: Unmasking the Gods, Carnival, Boy Bands, Decades and Soundtrack of My Life.
Season 13 has also been dubbed “Lucky 13” and features a new character, Lucky Duck, who is described as “delightfully mischievous.” The Lucky Duck is set to pop in at various times throughout the season to drop playful clues before being unmasked in the finale. The character is also teased to have a special connection to a cast member on the show.
Rita, who is returning to the judge’s seat for the third time, previously teased that the celebrities featured on season 13 were “really impressive.”
“I mean it’s definitely, ‘How did you get this person-type of insane,’ especially me kind of being a fan of — there’s a specific person,” she explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published on Monday, February 10. “I can’t obviously say it right now, but it’s crazy how this happened. And I mean, I know everything about this person as a fan of this person. So yeah, you’ll see that.”
Season 12 saw the Buffalos a.k.a. R&B icons Boyz II Men crowned the winners, becoming the first group to win the Golden Mask trophy. Boyz II Men — consisting of group members Wanyá Morris, Nathan Morris and Shawn Stockman — reluctantly joined the show after being asked various times.
“[We thought], ‘We probably won’t win ’cause they’ll know who we are. We’re gonna be either guessed off, or if we mask our voices, we know they won’t like who we are and we’ll get kicked off,’” Wanyá, 51, told Us Weekly ahead of the December 2024 finale.
However, it ended up being a great experience as it helped the group grow as artists. “It allowed us to be ourselves, believe it or not,” Shawn, 52, added. “The masks allowed us to reveal things about who we are as singers, who we are as people, music lovers, ’cause a lot of people wouldn’t connect Boyz II Men to Toto or other songs that we did on the show, so it was nice for people to get a glimpse of our playlist, songs and music that we love from artists that we enjoyed ever since we were kids in some cases. So it was nice and it became deeper than just winning the whole thing.”
The Masked Singer premieres Wednesday, February 12, on Fox at 8 p.m. ET.
