This longtime actress and funny woman opens up about her elimination, navigating the stage with Snowbird’s “big caboose” and doing the show to put judge Ken Jeong “out of his misery” after guessing her name in past seasons.
We’re about to dive into the serious spoiler territory for week two of The Masked Singer, revealing who was unmasked after their elimination.
If you haven’t watched and want to keep the surprise, check back here after watching the episode … you’ve been warned!
For Yvette Nicole Brown, appearing on The Masked Singer was a chance to return to her first love — singing — despite her shocking elimination on Wednesday night.
While many know the funny woman for her TV and film roles in Community, Inside Out: 2, Drake & Josh and so much more, her singing chops rival the talent she has in front of the camera.
Inspired in part by her fiancé, Anthony Davis, Brown told TooFab that putting on a mask and strutting her stuff on TMS stage as Showbird allowed her to revisit a part of herself she loves so much, without the added pressure.
“It felt like putting on your favorite pair of tennis shoes that have been broken in. I was like, ‘Oh, hey, friend. I remember you. I remember what this feels like. I remember the joy of this,'” Brown said of singing again. “Because for me, I was never one of those people who was like, ‘I want to be the best.’ It was never about that. I just love music.”
She continued, “I love harmony and I love phrasing and lyrics. I love all of that. And so to have been given a bit of a gift that God blessed me with to be able to take part in the thing that I love is such a delight. So it was like fun to just get to do what I love again.”
Finding music again, much like finding love again with Davis, reminded Brown that life isn’t over, and also helped in her decision to do the show.
“Things can happen at any time and miracles are still possible and delay is not denial, all of those things. And so if I set love aside and thought that was over and it wasn’t, what else have I set aside that I thought was over and it wasn’t? And so music was something I set aside and thought was over. So maybe it’s not over either,” she shared. “I was terrified to sing as myself on The Masked Singer, but I did it anyway. So I’m at the point now where it’s like, ‘Let’s see what the next thing that’s a little bit terrifying that comes. Safe, just terrifying. And let’s see. And maybe it’ll be a yes for one of those things too.”
It didn’t hurt that she had a longtime friend at the judges table either — her Community co-star, Ken Jeong, who has been guessing Brown as a contestant for seasons now, tonight included.
“He’s been guessing me on the Masked Singer for about 12 seasons, and asking me behind the scenes, ‘Would you ever do it?’ for about 12 seasons, so I felt like this was the time to put him out of his misery and finally do the show for him,” Brown quipped, when asked why she decided to finally do the show.
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But with such a strong voice and a connection at the judges table, it was a little surprising to see Brown go home week two.
“It was a shock and not because I’m like, ‘I’m great.’ But just because, you know, I just got my sea legs and I had already rehearsed my third song and I was ready to come back and do more,” she explained. “But, everybody’s great on the show, and everybody puts in their time and works hard. And you never know when your number’s up, but it was actually, I think, the perfect amount of time. I got to have the experience, I got to surprise Ken.”
“And it also was a very difficult time for my dad,” Brown continued. “I’m a caregiver. So it kind of was the right time to kind of come in, pop in and then get to go back to real life and take care of my papa”
“But I was surprised. Yeah, I was surprised,” she added.
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As for that Showbird fit, that was a little hard to navigate — but Brown made it look easy.
“You know, it’s a little scary because I was seeing through her little beak. And I couldn’t, because I had a harness on and I had that big caboose behind me, I couldn’t put my head down to see where I was going,” Brown explained. “So I had to gauge where the end of the stage was, where the dancers were, because you only can see like this. I had to gauge where everyone was. And I was just praying that I didn’t sweep around with that big caboose and knock one of the wonderful dancers out. So there’s all of that pressure in your mind. And then you also want to sound good. You know? So you can’t let the fact that you’re nervous about all these other things get into your voice. So it was a challenging gauntlet, but I think I did okay.”
As for whether she’s expecting to hear from her other Community co-stars after the show airs, Brown said it’s likely, with co-star, Joel McHale already in on the secret as he served as her TMS ambassador, introducing her ahead of her performance.
“Joel knew that I was doing the show and I’m waiting to see, we have a very lively group chat. I haven’t yet heard anyone going, ‘Are you Showbird?’ So I think that they either have not caught on yet or they’re waiting for the big reveal to say, ‘I always knew,'” she shared. “But we spent so much time together on Community. They all, they know my voice. They know what I look like. They know how I walk. No one would be surprised that it’s me. They’d guess me. It’ll be interesting to see what their reaction is.”
While TooFab spoke to McHale in March about the upcoming Community film, which he said was slated to go in production this year, things have sadly not moved along as quickly as they hoped, but Brown said that doesn’t mean this year is out of the question!
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“This is thing. I don’t know. I don’t think Joel was lying to you because the plan was to shoot it this year,” Brown admitted. “But the strike … and then everybody’s schedules getting kind of rejiggered. I don’t know if everybody is going to be free in time to shoot it this year.”
“I will say this, the film is going to be shot. It is going to happen. We do have a script and everyone is on board,” she promised. “And we also just got that incentive that L.A. gives you to shoot here. We just got that incentive. So it could still happen. It could still happen this year. I just know that it is happening.”
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
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