Dick Van Dyke proved he’s still got it.
The 97-year-old was one of the stars unmasked during the premiere episode of Fox’s “The Masked Singer” Wednesday night.
Van Dyke was singing as the Gnome, and as he revealed his identity host Nick Cannon remarked, “We are in the presence of an icon, ladies and gentlemen.”
The audience and the panel of judges seemed stunned to see the legendary actor on stage. Nicole Scherzinger burst into tears as the rest of the panel, Jenny McCarthy, Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong, stood on the desk for a standing ovation.
“The world loves you so much,” Scherzinger told Van Dyke. “It’s an honor to have you on this show. I can’t believe you’re here.”
Dick Van Dyke, 97, was unmasked on “The Masked Singer” Wednesday night. (Michael Becker/FOX )
When the “Mary Poppins” star was asked what it was like being the Gnome he replied, “It was real dark in there…you couldn’t see anything.”
“I just loved it that they thought I was Robert De Niro,” he added laughing.
Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews and in a scene from the 1965 movie “Mary Poppins.” (Photo by Donaldson Collection/Getty Images)
Counrty singer Sara Evans was also eliminated from the hit competition reality show, but there are no hard feelings.
“It was absolutely incredible,” Evans told Fox News Digital about her time on the show. Adding that it was “a lot of hard work, but so much fun.”
“One of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had in my whole career. I had no idea what to expect, and it was just amazing,” she said. “I think it’s considered a little bit more hard work because of the costume. The Big Horse head was heavy and killing my neck.”
She explained that learning the lyrics, the dance moves and recording the songs was challenging, but typical for a recording artist. The hardest part was putting on her Mustang costume, saying that she found the horse head to be a bit claustrophobic.
Sara Evans was eliminated from the show Wednesday night along with Dick Van Dyke. (Fox News)
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Sara Evans said her Mustang costume on “The Masked Singer” was a bit claustrophobic. (Michael Becker/FOX)
Evans considered herself lucky to not have had a more complicated costume. Aside from the horse head, she wore tight leather pants and a leather long-sleeved top with high heels, which she described as “normal stage wear.” But she did have some costume complications after her first dress rehearsal.
“The first time I put it on and went out to stage, they were like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, we can see her face,’ So they had to put a second layer of covering on it,” she explained. “Because it was so heavy, they had to have all these straps that they strapped on the back, so once it was on, I couldn’t take it off. Somebody had to undo everything. I just had to breathe and just tell myself they’re not going to leave me trapped in this horse head.”
Evans found it equally difficult to keep her participation on the show a secret from her children, saying that it “was pretty hard,” because her kids would know she was in Los Angeles. She said she didn’t want to tell them what she was filming “until the last minute possible.” While she did tell them she was competing on the show, she didn’t give them too many details, because she wanted to “watch them watch it.”
Now that her kids know, Evans is “excited for them to hear what the judges comments were.”
Evans didn’t tell her children much about her appearance on the show, because she wanted to see their true reactions. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Evans said she was “so flattered” by what the judges had to say, and surprised by their guesses.
“I did, ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’… and then they guessed Pink, and Pink and I have very similar voices. I think they guessed Sheryl Crow. I was so flattered by everybody that they were guessing,” Evans said. “The weirdest guess, I think, was Suzanne Somers. I was like, ‘What? I didn’t even know she could sing,’ so I did not relate to that.”
Evans started her career as a country singer at a very young age, explaining her mother put her on stage with her brothers when she was five years old, and she was performing in bars by the time she was seven.
Singing covers at a young age, she learned the words to songs by “Fleetwood Mac, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, you know, Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire” and said she very quickly found herself inspired by them.
“I’ve been inspired by so many different artists, and I just love a great singer and a great lyric. You know, what I want is to be moved by music,” she explained. “I like songs to go deep, and I like a voice to be able to do a lot of things, because that’s what I like to do. I like to really challenge myself in the studio as a singer.”
Sara Evans listed Reba McEntire as one of her musical influences growing up. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
As of late, Evans said she finds herself “leaning towards the pop side of things” and is listening to Charlie Puth, Dua Lipa and Morgan Wallen.
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In 2019, Evans moved back to Nashville, because it was easier to further her career there, rather than in Alabama, which is where she chose to raise her daughters.
“I could have raised my children in Nashville, and it would have been wonderful as well, but I love where they grew up,” she said. “They grew up in an area called Mountain Brook, and it’s outside of Birmingham or part of Birmingham, and so it was just sort of like this quaint, little picturesque area. Alabama is so beautiful, and so I’m really, really glad that they grew up there.”
The singer is the first to admit that “it’s been a long time” since she released any new music. Her latest album, “Copy That,” was released in 2020 and contains covers of others’ songs. She promised that new original music is coming from her soon.
Evans admits that it’s been a long time since she released original music, saying that writing her next album will take up much of her year. (Photo by Desiree Navarro/WireImage.)
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“That’s going to take up a huge portion of the year with actually recording it and then mixing it, and then the photo shoot and the video shoot and the promo promoting it,” Evans explained. “I just love making new music for my fans and giving them something new from me.”
“The Masked Singer” airs on Fox Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM EST on Fox.
