‘The Masked Singer: Why Did Nick Cannon Leave and When Does He Return as Host?

By Aarush Sharma On Dec 8, 2022

The fifth season of Fox’s The Masked Singer premiered on March 10, 2021, and concluded on May 26, 2021.

Singer Nick Lachey won the season as “Piglet,” with singer JoJo coming in second as “Black Swan” and rapper Wiz Khalifa coming in third as “Chameleon.”

‘The Masked Singer: Why Did Nick Cannon Leave and When Does He Return as Host?

The fifth season of The Masked Singer is currently airing on Fox. The hit reality competition show attracts a diverse range of talent, from its contestants to its panelists — and even its host.

However, Nick Cannon did not appear in the first few episodes of the early 2021 season.

Nick Cannon Hosts ‘The Masked Singer

The Masked Singer premiered on Fox in January 2019. Based on a South Korean program of the same name, the musical reality competition show plays on the usual concept, but with a twist — no one knows who the singers underneath the elaborate costumes are. Instead, the panelists must guess using clues.

The series quickly became a smash hit. Contestants include actual musicians such as Gladys Knight and rapper Bow Wow, as well as celebrities from other fields such as skateboarder Tony Hawk and TV host Tom Bergeron. Cannon hosts The Masked Singer in addition to its famous panelists.

People Called for Him to Be Fired in 2020

Between Seasons 3 and 4, Cannon made headlines for a different reason. During a July 2020 episode of his podcast, Cannon’s Class, he discussed past anti-Semitic comments with Professor Griff (formerly of the hip-hop group Public Enemy). And when Cannon agreed with some of them, he faced backlash.

ViacomCBS fired Cannon from his recently relaunched sketch competition show Wild’ N Out. Many fans demanded that Fox do the same with The Masked Singer.

Cannon, on the other hand, issued an apology, which the network accepted, and he resumed his hosting duties with season 4.

Cannon Didn’t Host ‘the Masked Singer’ in Early 2021

The Masked Singer will return for its fifth season without Cannon in March 2021. Instead, Niecy Nash, a previous guest panelist, stepped in to fill his shoes. However, his absence had nothing to do with his controversial comments from months prior.

In February 2020, Variety reported that “The Masked Singer host Nick Cannon has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, which means he won’t be seen in at least the first few episodes of the hit Fox reality series’ fifth season.” “Cannon is currently quarantined and resting,” the publication continued.

He returned to ‘the Masked Singer’ in April 2021

In addition to a new host, The Masked Singer Season 5 introduced a new element: wildcards. When a contestant is eliminated, a new one is introduced as a wildcard. That contestant wore a bulldog costume in the fifth episode, which aired on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.

After the Bulldog was defeated, they removed their mask to reveal Cannon himself beneath. Though he joked about being “kicked off the show,” it’s for a good reason: he’s returning as host, taking over from Nash beginning with the April 14 episode.