In the US version of the TV show “The Masked Singer”, which is also successful in this country, numerous spectacular stars have already been unmasked – unforgettable is the moment when Kermit the Frog suddenly peeled off a snail costume. In the opening episode of season nine, the first unveiling of the evening made the audience and the jury gasp – and even moved Nicole Scherzinger (44) to tears. Because whoever appeared under the funny garden gnome disguise was the 97-year-old cinema, TV and entertainer veteran Dick Van Dyke.
The fact that he was the first to get hit after his performance of Billie Holiday’s song “When You’re Smiling” was a minor matter. Especially since he was given a special honor after the unmasking: Instead of performing this song again as usual, he agreed to the hit of his “Mary Poppins” character (chimney sweep Bert) – “Supercalifragilisticexpialigetisch”. This also caused pure nostalgia for the other jury members – musician Robin Thicke (45), actress Jenny McCarthy (50) and comedian Ken Jeong (53).
In an interview with “Entertainment Weekly” Van Dyke spoke about the frenetic reaction after his revelation on “The Masked Singer”. He attributed the fact that nobody had tapped him before the unmasking to a very simple reason: “They were so surprised. I got out and all my jaws dropped. I think some people thought I was already dead,” he jokes Entertainer.
Dick Van Dyke has been in show business for over 60 years, starting with his “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in the early 1960s. For eight years (1993-2001) he was also the star of the popular crime series “Diagnosis: Murder”. In 2018 he starred in the new edition “Mary Poppins’ Return” with Emily Blunt (39) in the title role.
