[Spoiler] Says Fans Knew He Was Masked Singer’s Wasp Since ‘1st Show’

The Masked Singer’s Wasp — now revealed as Mario — tried to fool fans all season long, but they clocked him right away.

“A lot of them knew who I was on the first show,” the singer, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Wednesday, December 18, season finale airing on Fox. “I had family members, friends, other artists, some of my peers hit me up like, ‘Yo, is that you on The Masked Singer? Because I know your voice, you can’t hide it that well.’”

The “Let Me Love You” hitmaker tried to throw viewers off the scent by choosing songs outside his comfort zone — Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper” and Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” for example — but he couldn’t hide his signature croon.

“A lot of people reached out to me and were standing on the fact that they knew it was me, and I just had to keep denying it, denying it, denying it,” Mario said. “Even in interviews, even on social media with fans and comments, I’m like, ‘You guys, I don’t know who this Wasp is! Let me go check this guy out, ’cause he really sounds like me.’ I’m just trying to throw people off, but it wasn’t working.”

It didn’t help that he’s in the middle of promoting his new album, Glad You Came, which dropped Friday, December 13. It’s hard to hide out when you’re smack in the middle of a promotional cycle, but Mario said appearing on the show felt like a “full circle” moment for him.

“For me, it’s a win-win, because I like authenticity,” the Empire alum explained. “I really wanted to connect with people and really remind people who I was as a person and as a talent, and I think that’s what this show does for you.”

As part of that connection, Mario asked for some input into his Wasp costume, which he wanted to reflect some of the ups and downs he’s been through in real life.

“We were able to talk about, ‘OK, I want the Wasp to have a little bit of broken wings. I want his wings to have a couple holes in it,’” he told Us. “I wanted it to look like he’d been through something, but he’s pushing through and he’s still standing on what he loves and what he believes. I definitely related to that. I mean, I’ve been on the move, on the go, since I was 14 in the industry, so the fact that the Wasp is always moving and on the go, I can relate to that.”

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Mario won’t be getting much of a break next year either as he embarks on Mary J. Blige’s For My Fans tour with pal Ne-Yo (who won The Masked Singer season 10 and served as Wasp’s Masked Ambassador). Starting in April, he’ll embark on his own Glad You Came tour across Europe.

“The fact that record is called Glad You Came is really like the title of everything in my life right now, from being on TV and having an audience to putting this album out that represents the growth and confidence and creativity that I’ve been nurturing for the last few years to arrive at where I’m at now,” he explained. “It’s a feeling, it’s a vibe, it’s an intention. So I think that it’s all connected to how I want people to remember me, how I want people to hear the music and experience it. And I guess at the end of the day, the intention behind all of it is to create things that are timeless.”