Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Season 7 finale of The Masked Singer! Read at your own risk!
The Masked Singer Season 7 just wrapped up on Fox, and while fans had lots of opinions about who deserved to win, it was mainly due to how much talent was in the finale. Many loved The Ringmaster, and it took a while for viewers to figure out that she was none other than The Goldbergs actress Hayley Orrantia. Weirdly enough, though, had it not been due to scheduling, fans might’ve unintentionally found out a lot sooner thanks to her ABC hit series.
Hayley Orrantia spoke to CinemaBlend following her elimination in the finale of The Masked Singer Season 7 and revealed the wild turn of events on The Goldbergs that almost exposed her as The Ringmaster before she was officially unmasked. Orrantia talked about filming between the two shows and the unbelievable scenario that occurred that sounds like a one-in-a-million chance of happening:
The week that I had been performing [on The Masked Singer]…before the finals. We did this–where the three of us sing a song together. And it was 'One Way Or Another.' The same week we were singing that, I was asked to sing it on The Goldbergs. I was like, ‘Oh God. Are these going to air at the same time or one before the other?’’ Like, are people going to go, 'Wait a minute, you’re literally singing the same song.’ It would’ve been a dead giveaway. Thankfully, it timed out where no one caught it.
In a weird turn of events, The Goldbergs wanted Hayley Orrantia’s Erica to sing the exact same song she performed while on The Masked Singer. Luckily the two episodes didn’t sync up to air on the same night, so audiences weren’t able to easily make the connection and call Orrantia out.
The scheduling of episodes was stressful enough but not the only tense part of the process. Hayley Orrantia explained that part of the reason it was all so stressful is that she couldn’t tell her Goldbergs crew that she was on The Masked Singer:
I actually couldn’t even tell anyone at Goldbergs so we had to be like, ‘Oh I’m working on another thing this week, can you schedule me out for this day?’ And they’re like, ‘What is it,’ and I’m like ‘I can’t talk about it.' I couldn’t tell them, ‘Hey, can we not do this song because it’s going to give me away on The Masked Singer.’ That was a weird point of tension at one point but it worked out really well.
Hayley Orrantia didn’t tell The Goldbergs about her stint on The Masked Singer or a lot of people in her life about it. Orrantia said she basically only told her parents about the experience, as they’re very close and would worry if she went hours without texting them. Beyond that, she was able to keep quite a few people in the dark, so it’s a good thing The Goldbergs didn’t accidentally blow the lid off the whole surprise!
The Masked Singer Season 7 is over on Fox, but Season 8 is confirmed to be on the way. Fans can re-binge the whole season with a Hulu subscription or check out Hayley Orrantia on The Goldbergs ahead of the recently confirmed Season 10 on ABC.
