Starting out with 16 stars dressed in silly costumes — from Kevin Hart to Billy Bush to Colton Underwood and beyond — the Masked Singer season 11 finale featured only two contestants, The Gumball and The Goldfish, battling it out for the victory.
Described as “the most closely contested battle yet on the show,” both The Gumball and The Goldfish sang two songs to try to secure the Golden Mask Trophy once and for all. The former sang “Latch” by Disclosure feat. Sam Smith and “Renegade” by Styx, and the latter sang “Heart of Glass” by Blondie and Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” by Elton John, both exemplifying their musical prowess to a T.
While the panel — consisting of Rita Ora, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg and Robin Thicke — and viewers alike were blown away both performances, only one individual could take home the win, leaving fans of the franchise with just one question: who emerged as victorious?
The winner of The Masked Singer season 11 was Vanessa Hudgens as The Goldfish
While Thicke guessed her to be Hilary Duff and Jeong guessed her to be Nicole Scherzinger, Ora and McCarthy-Wahlberg correctly guessed the The Goldfish was, in fact, High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens!
“I have loved being able to swim into new territories as the golden girl on this stage,” she gushed about the experience. “As a little girl I was never really great at expressing myself. It’s not really something I grew up around, but lately, I have been on a journey of self-discovery and being here I’ve been able to express myself so freely.”
When asked what she learned the most during her Masked Singer stint, Hudgens told Entertainment Weekly in an exclusive interview, “Probably just how much weight fame bears, and once I got to take it away, I felt so free and liberated. So I guess tell the young’uns out there, be careful what you wish for and make sure you’re doing things for the right reasons, because fame itself isn’t the reason to do things” — words to live by!
The runner up of The Masked Singer season 11 was Scott Porter as The Gumball
While The Goldfish was Vanessa Hudgens all along, The Gumball was revealed to be Friday Night Lights star Scott Porter, despite McCarthy-Wahlberg and Thicke guessing Derek Hough, Jeong guessing Taran Killam and Ora guessing Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Hudgens and Porter previously starred Bandslam together — where Hudgens beats Porter in a music competition — so this final two on The Masked Singer season 11 was seriously as ironic as can be!
“The experience has been unreal and it’s been wonderful to show what I am capable of musically,” he gushed about the experience as well. “I’ve been on TV for almost two decades nonstop, and yet being here, I feel like I’ve finally gotten to show who I really am.”
While it is unclear what The Masked Singer season 12 has in store, it is safe to say we are excited. We cannot wait to see who follows in Vanessa Hudgens’ footsteps as the next Golden Mask Trophy recipient…