Taking extreme measures! Ken Jeong revealed how Masked Singer judges avoid running into contestants on the set of the Fox singing show during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.
“They try to keep us very separate. Separate hallway, separate building. They’re in trailers, we’re in dressing rooms. Air conditioned,” the 50-year-old comedian quipped to Us while chatting about his partnership with Heineken 0.0, which recently gave out free nonalcoholic drinks to first responders on National First Responders Day. “But, at the same time, if I see someone in a mask in one of those, I always move and leave because I really try to keep it pure. … I just don’t want to have any idea.”
Jeong added that he’s panicked in the past during near run-ins with contestants, who are facing off in elaborate costumes and masks to conceal their identities.
“There have been times, like people were walking down a hallway and I’ll panic and I’ll leave,” he explained. “It’s like a horror movie all of a sudden.”
Jeong judges the competition series with Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke. The Dr. Ken actor joked that the “Blurred Lines” singer wears a blindfold backstage to avoid spoilers.
“Well Robin Thicke wears one, but it has nothing to do with that. He’s like, ‘Don’t look at me, don’t make eye contact.’ Like, we get it. You’re Robin Thicke,” Jeong joked, noting that him and the musician grew closer while filming season 2. “He’s one of my best friends. This season, man, our relationship takes off. We’re on a whole next level, and we just roast each other.”
The Hangover actor added that their friendship is “really blossoming.”
“We’ll see if it gets on tape or not,” he noted to Us. “He has his own Robin Thicke towels and glasses. And during taping he’ll just give it to me and then Nick Cannon is like, ‘What’s going on?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, Robin’s giving me his unsold merch.’ Set a bargain bin in the hallway. So he has got the best sense of humor and he’s become a brother.”
The Masked Singer airs on Fox Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
For more from Jeong, watch the video above!
