In the first few minutes of The Masked Singer season 5 premiere, folks were surprised to discover that Claws star Niecy Nash was hosting in place of Nick Cannon.
On March 10, Niecy announced that she would be temporarily taking over for Nick and wished him well. "Nick Cannon, I'm sending you all the good vibes. Hopefully we'll see you later this season," Niecy declared.
Hilariously, she then singled out judge Ken Jeong and delivered a special message from Nick to The Hangover star. "And just for the record, Kenneth, Nick gave me permission to tell you, 'Sit your butt down, Ken!'"
Though Ken hilariously protested this message (one that he has heard many times from Nick throughout past seasons), Niecy pushed back, causing Ken to jokingly obey and say, "Yes, mommy."
While Nick hasn't publicly addressed his absence on The Masked Singer season 5 premiere, Variety did report in early February that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and would miss "at least the first few episodes." The rep for the star confirmed to the outlet at the time that he was in quarantine and taking time off to rest.
In terms of when Masked Singer fans can expect to see Nick back, executive producer James Breen announced at a virtual TCA session that he will return "halfway through the season." In the meantime, The Masked Singer family feels tremendously lucky to have Niecy on board.
"She had chemistry with the panel — she was just a producer’s dream," James declared. "She was absolutely fantastic."
In a separate interview, Ken told Fox 2 Now, "She is outstanding, she can do it all." We couldn't agree more!
