Macaron on ‘The Masked Singer’ thought she’d judge, not sing — ended up learning TikTok dances instead
'The Masked Singer' season 12, 2024, saw an adorable contestant known as the 'Macaron' debut in the Group C competition with a colorful rendition of Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe.' During the same episode, it was shockingly revealed that famed professional surfer and writer Bethany Hamilton was behind the delectable Macaron mask. Hamilton initially had other plans before participating in the singing competition. "Originally I thought I was gonna be a judge. So I didn't even realize I was actually singing. And then once I realized I was singing, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I sing to my children at bedtime, but, like, singing is not my forte. But I am competitive, and I was like, 'Maybe I can make up for it with my performance and whatnot,'" the pro surfer explained exclusively to Cinemablend that she anticipated her role as a judge on the show.
Hamilton hilariously recalled that the judges did get her right, but they also missed the mark a few times by comparing her with convicted felon Gypsy Rose Blanchard and White House scandal star Monica Lewinsky. The shark attack survivor confessed to having limited knowledge about the show and admitted that she did not hone her singing skills before entering it. "Well, I hadn't watched the show. I wasn't familiar with it. So I just immediately thought, ‘Oh, yeah, I'll probably be a judge or something.’ Like in my head, I'm thinking this is for legit singers, which I will say," she said.
"There were some really good singers. I don't know who they were, but I saw one girl singing, and she didn't even have to perform. She just stood there and belted it as if she were a doll. And so once I heard her, I was like, ‘Oh, I don't think I'm going to be winning this season," Hamilton gushed about the other contestants. She acknowledged being unaware of Grammy-winning singers eyeing the top spot in the competition. Judges Rita Ora and Jenny McCarthy did guess her identity right during the epic reveal episode. "I've just had an epiphany, well, just during the show, and I went up to Jenny, and you can like vouch for me on this, so I used to watch Ellen DeGeneres all the time, and there was this one girl, and she was super inspiring," Ora shared.
She continued, "She had a real, um, I would say significant moment in her life, and then I remembered that she had a documentary that I watched with my mother called Unstoppable, right if I'm right, and I mean I'm just kind of guessing this is Bethany Hamilton," the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' actress correctly guessed. "I love Monica Lewinsky; I have mad respect for her, but I'll go with Bethany," McCarthy chimed. And both of them ended up guessing Hamilton's identity right; meanwhile, the pro surfer revealed that she loved her colorful costume but found it hard to practice dance moves wearing it.
“I feel like learning dance moves in a short amount of time is not my forte. I’ve never been a TikTok dancer where you can just pick it up in a few minutes," she told Variety. Additionally, she admitted that it was not an easy task to keep up the dancing in sync with the lyrics. "Let’s just say I’m better at surfing!” she concluded.