The celeb under the Sun mask tells EW the story behind her bathroom encounter with Nicole Scherzinger.
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Wednesday’s episode ofThe Masked Singer.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The panelists pegged you as a potential winner right off the bat.
Credit: Michael Becker/FOX
Would you say you are a competitive person?
LEANN RIMES:I have to admit, I am.
I also know, at the same time, when it’s a competition, you never know.
LeAnn Rimes.Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic
You have no idea what people are going to vote for.
Whatever it may be, you just never know what people are going to gravitate towards.
So I definitely went in with high expectations, but I knew it could go any way.
It’s funny about competition, too.
Can we see each other?"
I just really wanted to see my friend.
I had no clue.
Did you keep up with theories online, and were you surprised by that?
There’s no way of disguising that.
People play the game very differently.
I just have been having to bite my tongue for weeks now.
In 2021 you will be celebrating your 25th anniversary as a recording artist.
What does winning this show right now mean to you?
So much went into this.
Every single person and creator that I got to create with are just so fantastic.
Being the ray of sunshine and bringing light to such a dark moment was so important.
As much work went into this as anything else that I’ve ever done in my life.
Can you tell me about that?
Yeah, I don’t remember where we were.
It was one of those Grammy dinners or Clive Davis parties or something along those lines.
And I think she was singing that night.
So she was in the bathroom, like warming up next to me in the stall.
She’s like, “Oh…
So I think that’s where we actually first met was in the bathroom.
I was like, how are people going to take this story?
This sounds very strange.
But yeah, that’s exactly what happened in the bathroom.
Your costume changed a bit throughout the seasonfrom wearing pants at one point to sometimes having a halo.
What went into deciding what version you’d wear when?
First off, the costume in itself was a challenge to wear and perform with the weight of it.
And I am claustrophobic, so I had them not put anything on the back of my head.
So it was just kind of the front mask.
It was on a helmet that I put on, and then clasped underneath my chin.
And it was almost like wearing a corset when they put that on.
So I really did want to be able to kind of play around with different looks within one costume.
Can I convince you to release your version of it at some point?
Funny enough, I might just do that.
We’ve been talking about doing that.
So this is the beginning of releasing music off that new record.
Maybe we can cut it as a bonus track.
We’ll see what happens, because you’re not the first person that’s said that.
It’s such a beautiful song.
I really, really wanted to do as much of that as possible with the a cappella.
I really wanted the intimacy of that, because I know how powerful that can be.
When I saw it, I thought it turned out exactly like I wanted it to.
People connected to it so deeply, and it was a powerful moment.
So thank you for saying that.
You’re not the first and I’m taking it all to heart for sure.
What can you tease about your new album and what’s coming up next for you?
Well, my chant record,CHANT: The Human & the Holy, just came out.
The album that I’ve been writing right now, we’re about 10 songs into it.
We’re just finishing it all up, and it’s just powerful.
I don’t have words for it, yet.
There’s a lot of world vibe to this record.
I’m calling it worldicana, because it’s not Americana, it’s got all these world grooves.
So it’s like this blend of so many different genres.
I don’t think it fits into any box, which I love.
I’m so excited for people to hear the music.
I’ve never been more excited in my life about new music.
