Masked Singer: Why Robopine’s Reveal Could Jeopardize Show’s Ratings

Much of the excitement fans have for The Masked Singer revolves around its concept, which is inherently interactive. The reveal of Robopine as singer/actor Tyrese Gibson may have put a wrinkle in the way fans view the show, and they aren’t happy about it. While fans love the glamourous costumes and the celebrity performances, what really sets the show apart from others in the genre is the hidden identities. Since its first season, viewers have wholeheartedly embraced the sleuthing aspect of the show. This has helped push the show to its current megahit status as one of television’s top-rated competition series.

The zealous participation of fans has actually lead to multiple changes to the way clues are delivered as the show’s production team tries to outsmart the public, who has the assistance of Google and Wikipedia at their fingertips. This time, however, they may have gone too far by actually giving completely fake clues. While fans and publications like ours were able to figure out that the Fast & Furious star was behind the mask, it was not in the most traditional way. Gibson, like several celebs before him, outed himself when he was spotted in the infamous black hoodie the singers wear when out of costume.

The hoodie, which reads “Don’t Talk To Me,” was spotted on previous contestants Caitlyn Jenner and Wendy Williams. In both cases, they went home quickly and it didn’t really disrupt the guessing experience too much. This is the first time the celebrity busted wearing the recognizable garment lasted a long time in the competition. As soon as all the guests performed and all other celebs were identified, it was clear the only costume Gibson could be wearing was Robopine. This made it possible to predict his identity without clues.

The problem with this is that Robopine claimed to be 60 years old with grandkids. This didn’t fit the 42-year-old father of two small children at all and lead to predictions of celebrities who are actually that age. It also couldn’t be said that Gibson went rouge with that single false statement because the clue packages presented to fans by the show also didn’t apply to the model and rapper. The packages focused heavily on Robopine’s childhood in Costa Rica. Gibson is from California – Watts, to be exact, which was also referenced in a clue only given on his final week.

Fans tried to understand the reasoning for this and many thought it had to do with an album Gibson has been working on for several years titled Identity Theft. However, the Transformers star gave an entirely different explanation when he was unmasked. He said he made up a fake background because he knew the judges personally. This, however, isn’t a unique situation. 90210 star Brian Austin Green appeared on the show in season four as Giraffe. Green managed to fool panelist Robin Thicke, his neighbor and childhood best friend. They even once started a band together, yet he used no fake clues.

With a mixture of true and false facts, how do fans know what to rely on in trying to guess an identity? They don’t, hence the anger and frustration of fans who spent time using Robopine’s clues in their predictions. If the clues can be made up, there is really no point in spending hours scouring the internet to find them. Without this interactive element, the show just becomes another in a sea of singing competition shows. The unique ability it had to bring out the inner spy in everyone is gone. It remains to be seen if this is a one-time thing or a new pattern that may have an impact on the show’s ratings.

The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 pm ET on Fox.