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THIS POST CONTAINS spoilers for this week’s episode of Fox’s The Masked Singer.
On the fifth episode of The Masked Singer Season 10, a tennis legend was unmasked. Disguised as a suited Royal Hen, the former world No. 1 tennis player Billie Jean King lost in a final smackdown against masked contestant Hawk. The reveal marked panelist Ken Jeong’s third correct guess of the season, and in his usual fashion, he crawled onto the panelist table to celebrate.
“It was great but it is so hot. I’m sweating bullets!” exclaimed King.
Four new contestants took the stage during a special Elton John-themed night that kicked off with Robin Thicke playing a bedazzled grand piano and singing along to The Rocket Man’s “Tiny Dancer.” Next, viewers were introduced to Hawk, who hinted at a former collaboration with Miley Cyrus and gave a wobbly performance of “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting).” A braggadocious Husky strolled on stage, claiming he had a “strange effect on the female species” and proceeded to give an unconvincing rendition of “Bennie and the Jets.”
Then there was Royal Hen, who received a regal entrance wherein they were escorted on stage by two men, leading the panelists to believe the contestant was older. The clues mentioned that the Royal Hen was a “true trailblazer” and famous for championing “equal opportunities for all,” and also featured images of a hot dog and the Eiffel Tower.
Two-stepping and flapping her feathers, Royal Hen belted “Philadelphia Freedom,” a song written for Billie Jean King. After presenting a clue, symbolic of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, panelists shared guesses like social activist Gloria Steinem, West Side Story’s Rita Moreno, and sex therapist Dr. Ruth. In 1981, King became one of the first openly gay sports legends and later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 from former president Barack Obama for her efforts championing gender equality.
As an acclaimed tennis player in the Sixties and Seventies, King beat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, a widely watched game that was later adapted into a Hollywood film, Battle of the Sexes, starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell. In 1987, King was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 2006 the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City was named in her honor.
“Whoever you are, that was a grand slam all throughout,” Jeong said before the reveal.
In the previous episode, the “King of Trash Talk” Michael Rapaport was revealed as the Pickle and earlier episodes featured Vanderpump Rules supervillain Tom Sandoval, Anthony Anderson, and Demi Lovato all being unmasked.
