Former NFL backup quarterback Mark Sanchez was revealed to be Baby Alien on Wednesday during the Group B playoffs episode of The Masked Singer on Fox.
‘Oh my God! You got everybody! yelled show host Nick Cannon, 40, as a grinning Mark, 33, unmasked. ‘What in the world? Everybody was way off!’
Nick noted the contestant’s comedic timing, the Eastern European accent he employed while in disguise and his skill at operating the baby alien figure atop his costume.
Playoffs lost: Former NFL backup quarterback Mark Sanchez was revealed to be Baby Alien on Wednesday during the Group B playoffs episode of The Masked Singer on Fox
‘My arm kept cramping up here, and then Ken talks for an hour-and-a-half,’ Mark admitted, referring to long-winded show panelist Ken Jeong, 51.
Mark left the University of Southern California early and was drafted in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He last played for the Washington Redskins before retiring in 2019 to become a college football analyst for ESPN.
He said that the best part of being on the show was ‘sharing this experience with my little man,’ his son Daniel, three, who had been ‘rocking out in the car’ as he learned his songs.
As they reflected on Baby Alien’s past cover of George Michael’s Faith and his latest rendition of Imagine Dragons’ It’s Time, the show’s panel thought they knew who he was.
Puppet skills: The 33-year-old football analyst performed with a Baby Alien puppet
Completely fooled: Robin Thick, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, guest panelist Joel McHale and Niccole Scherzinger were all stumped by the former first round draft pick
They named the actors Eric Bana, 52, Nick Kroll, 42, Sacha Baron Cohen, 49, Taylor Lautner, 28, Freddie Prinze Jr. 44, and Jason Biggs, 42, and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, 58.
Robin Thicke, 43, offered the season’s weirdest first impression guess, suggesting that Baby Alien might be Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
Credits explained the clues in Baby Alien’s video packages. Roses referred to Mark’s time leading the USC Trojans to a Rose Bowl victory, a hot dog recalled the moment he ate one on the sidelines of a game, and a Tony Award alluded to his stint as a presenter at the 2010 Tonys.
Multiple clues: Roses in his clues referred to Mark’s time leading the USC Trojans to a Rose Bowl victory, a hot dog recalled the moment he ate one on the sidelines of a game, and a Tony Award alluded to his stint as a presenter at the 2010 Tonys
Long talker: ‘My arm kept cramping up here, and then Ken talks for an hour-and-a-half,’ Mark admitted, referring to long-winded show panelist Ken
Baby Alien’s newest video was a Baywatch parody video called ‘Babywatch,’ in which Mark mentioned past sexual scandals in which he had been embroiled.
‘I’ve been roasted before,’ he confessed, using that vaguely European accent. ‘Under beaming spotlight of big city, I had my public relationships probed, and experienced close encounters with money-hungry sharks. Now I can help bab-ier aliens avoid the same sandtraps.’
Baby Alien’s departure shrunk the number of Group B contestants on the show to four.
The host: Nick Cannon interviewed Baby Alien before the unmasking
Guest panelist: Joel was back as guest panelist and got dressed up in Nick style
Good times: Jenny was having fun as Mark revealed himself to the panelists
The first one to perform was the Serpent, with a cover of Maren Morris’ The Bones that had Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, 47, saying, ‘If you’re not a huge recording star, you should be.’
In a video, the Serpent called singing onstage ‘a childhood dream come true,’ conceding that he’d taken an ‘unorthodox’ path to get there, as ‘starting out, I could barely make rent.’ He’d sold clothes, done manual labor and tried to stay patient as ‘the gatekeepers’ told him ‘No, no, no,’ he explained, adding, ‘I stayed driven and finally broke through.’
Clues included doctor’s scrubs, an ATM machine that spelled ‘error,’ a pink Cadillac, golden croissant, a baby bottle full of milk and a reference to ‘foundations.’
First up: The first one to perform was the Serpent, with a cover of Maren Morris’ The Bones
Impressed panelist: Nicole was impressed by Serpent’s performancce
Guesses included actors Taye Diggs, 49, Jesse Williams, 39, and singer Bryan McKnight, 51.
Crocodile went next and wowed the panel with an R&B-inflected version of Britney Spears’ Toxic, dancing so sexily that Robin joked, ‘I feel fully seduced right now.’
Like the Serpent, Crocodile said being on the show had revived a childhood love of performing. ‘When I was young, I was just a poor nobody with a dream,’ he recalled in his video.
Toxic cover: Crocodile went next and wowed the panel with an R&B-inflected version of Britney Spears’ Toxic
Fully seduced: Robin got caught up in Crocodile’s sexy dancing and joked, ‘I feel fully seduced right now’
He said his father didn’t believe in his talent until he gave him his first $100 check.
‘Then shazam! My field of dreams became a field of reality,’ the Crocodile shared.
Clues to his identity included a skull-and-crossbones, the number five, a disco ball, a can of hairspray, a 2014 family reunion photo, orange trees, and a pinata full of plastic porpoises.
Guesses included the singers Adam Lambert, 38, Lenny Kravitz, 56, and Harry Connick, Jr., 53.
Eclectic clues: Clues to Crocodile’s identity included a skull-and-crossbones, the number five, a disco ball, a can of hairspray, a 2014 family reunion photo, orange trees, and a pinata full of plastic porpoises
Baby Alien went next with a strangely flat version of the Imagine Dragons’ 2012 hit.
The Whatchamacallit then brought funk to the stage with his update on Ludacris’ Money Maker, after which Ken shouted, ‘You came here to play!’
In a video, Whatchamacallit said, ‘It takes 36,524 brush strokes to make Whatcha camera-ready. But I love this hairy situation I’ve gotten myself into. I’m free, free, free!’
Oddly flat: Baby Alien went next with a strangely flat version of the Imagine Dragons’ 2012 hit
At the height of his career, he observed, he was ‘ready to dance like never before,’ then got a call that ‘shook my world’: His mother was ill, though she urged him to ‘push forward.’
Visual clues included a green airplane, UP-style balloons, golden stairs, a New Orleans home, a musical score, a brown oxford shoe, dimes, a green mirror, and a book called ‘Hairy Tales of the Whatcha Fam,’ by Doodad Doohickey.
Guesses included the actor Armie Hammer, 34, New England Patriots’ quarterback Cam Newton, 31, and NFL star Terrell Owens, 46.
Getting funky: The Whatchamacallit then brought funk to the stage with his update on Ludacris’ Money Maker
Last to sing was the Seahorse, who effortlessly crooned Céline Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, leading Nick to say, ‘That was probably one of the best vocals I’ve ever heard.’
Seahorse’s video had her riding a covered wagon through the desert. ‘I’m a bit tame,’ she said, ‘but when I step into this costume, my inner diva Seahorse Fierce comes alive.’
It wasn’t her ‘first rodeo,’ she added, noting that she’d faced rejection, heartbreak and loss before, and once stayed in her room writing for ‘what felt like a thousand years.’
Last up: Last to sing was the Seahorse, who effortlessly crooned Céline Dion’s My Heart Will Go On
Clues included chipped teeth (with a line drawn through them), a saloon sign reading ‘Place your bets,’ a green light, jean shorts, a clown carrying a brand reading ‘FAIL,’ flying clocks set to 9:00, the words ‘A dream is a wish your heart makes,’ and a balloon with feathers in it.
Guesses included the singers Bebe Rexha, 31, Camila Cabello, 23, and Jessica Simpson, 40.
The Masked Singer will return next week on Fox.
Various clues: Clues included chipped teeth (with a line drawn through them), a saloon sign reading ‘Place your bets,’ a green light, jean shorts, a clown carrying a brand reading ‘FAIL,’ flying clocks set to 9:00, the words ‘A dream is a wish your heart makes,’ and a balloon with feathers in it