This is what (comedy) friends are for. On Wednesday night’s (March 6) season 11 premier of The Masked Singer, host Nick Cannon got totally got by his comedy pal Kevin Hart, who made a surprise guest appearance in the clunky Book costume.
While actual cloaked performers Ugly Sweater, Starfish, Goldfish and Lovebird sang for a spot on the show, Hart stumbled his way through Ne-Yo’s “So Sick,” drawing smiles and laughs from judges Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong and newbie Rita Ora. The panel could not contain themselves as Hart — whose voice was unmistakable underneath the boxy costume — bumbled his way through the song by last season’s winner.
“They love the book because that was so amazing,” Cannon said after the performance, which Thicke also called “amazing.” “Like, I’ve done a lot, but what I’m doing right now? This might be my most novel experience yet,” Hart said through a voice changer afterwards as Thicke said his face hurt from smiling.
When the big reveal came later in the show, Thicke, who had guessed Hart, took a victory lap and hugged the funnyman while Cannon complained that the comedian was breaking the rules. “I got you! Oh, I got you Nick! This was a prank, you had no idea!… And guess what Nick? There’s nothing you can do about it!,” Hart shouted as the host lamented that his friend was out of order by bringing their longtime prank war to his stage.
“This is stupid,” Cannon complained. “That was the worst performance ever in the history of this show, how about that!”
“On purpose, Nick!” the stand-up shouted. “I performed bad on purpose!”
“You embarrassed yourself, that was stupid!” Cannon shot back.
“No, I don’t look stupid. I look put together Nick,” Hart said while wearing a flesh-colored sock on his head to go with a black long sleeved shirt, white pants and book-shaped shoes. “There’s nothing stupid about me. You know who looks stupid? You, in that stupid jacket!”
Cannon — wearing a sparkly dinner jacket — disagreed, saying, “you ruined the freakin’ show! We was gonna bring everybody out, vote, deliberate…” Hart checked his pockets and snapped, “I’m trying to see if I have a little bit of care, cuz I don’t care. That’s not my problem, that’s your problem. This is me, up on you now, Kevin Hart 1, you nothing!”
The two old friends co-hosted the 2023 E! series Celebrity Prank Wars and have played tricks on each other before, including Cannon getting Hart a llama for his 42nd birthday in 2021 and Kevin posting Nick’s personal phone number on a billboard in 2021.
Elsewhere, Lovebird sang Phillip Phillips’ “Home,” Ugly Sweater did Tina Turner’s “The Best,” Starfish took on Madonna’s “Material Girl” and Goldfish ran through Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire.” Next week’s show will feature a Wizard of Oz theme, with former competitor LeAnn Rimes (aka Sun) returning to perform “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and the introduction of new singers Gumball, Afghan Hound, The Beets and Miss Cleocatra.
Watch Hart’s performance and unmasking below.
