Fans Think Poison’s Bret Michaels Is ‘The Masked Singer’ Banana
Is Bret Michaels singing while dressed as a giant banana on television every week?
A growing number of fans and one of the judges on The Masked Singer are convinced the Poison frontman is the mystery celebrity performing in an oversized yellow costume on the popular competitive singing show.
After several weeks of clues and performances, the case for Michaels being the banana is hard to dismiss. The super-sized fruit (technically, a berry) made its debut on the Feb. 19 episode with a cover of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation."
The following week, the banana raised eyebrows by forgetting the words during a performance of Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart," but still managed to survive the episode's elimination vote.
Watch the Banana Perform 'A Little Less Conversation'
On March 5, the partially peeled, googly-eyed singer tackled a more serious song, Bill Withers' "Lean on Me." After a three-week break in which a different group of contestants were showcased, the banana returned to the show's "Super Nine" round last night with a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama."
It's a song Michaels has covered onstage before. Comparing the two performances reveals some vocal similarities.
Watch Bret Michaels Perform 'Sweet Home Alabama' in 2013
Watch the Banana Perform 'Sweet Home Alabama'
In addition to the musical performances, each contestant provides an ongoing series of clues about themselves, which the show's celebrity judges use to try and guess the secret identity. The banana's hints have included references to sporting a mullet hairstyle in the past, fathering two children (Michaels has two daughters, Raine and Jorja) and having suffered a traumatic onstage injury, like the one Michaels endured when he was struck by a piece of the set during the 2009 Tony Awards.
After hearing all that, judge Jenny McCarthy guessed that Michaels is the banana, moving away from an earlier contention that blue-collar comedian Bill Engvall was under the mask. Other judges have guessed that the banana is Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, actors Ed Helms or Billy Bob Thornton, country star Brad Paisley and race-car driver Michael Andretti.
Jenny McCarthy Guesses Bret Michaels Is the Banana
The banana was one of the contestants in the danger zone this week, meaning he was at risk of being eliminated from the program and having his identity exposed. But the yellow fruit survived, with the white tiger instead being voted off and revealed as former football star Rob Gronkowski.
The next episode of The Masked Singer, which could feature the banana being unpeeled once and for all, airs April 8 on Fox.
Whether or not he's the banana, Michaels and his Poison bandmates are currently scheduled to kick off a massive stadium tour with a newly reunited Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts on June 18. However, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has put all major cultural events at risk of postponement or cancellation.
See Clues for 'The Masked Singer''s Banana
Watch the Banana Perform 'Achy Breaky Heart'
Watch the Banana Perform 'Lean on Me'