Alicia Witt shared that performing on “The Masked Singer” was more emotional than she “could have imagined.”
The 47-year-old actress and musician was eliminated from the FOX reality competition television series on Wednesday night after being unmasked as Dandelion.
The “Twin Peaks” alum’s appearance on the show came after a painful and difficult year during which she battled breast cancer, underwent reconstructive surgery and coped with the unexpected loss of her parents, who were found dead in their home in December 2021.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Witt explained how she believed her late parents had a role to play in helping her get this opportunity and were there with her along the way.
“I think they had everything to do with when they got the invitation to appear on the show,” the ‘Younger’ singer said.
Alicia Witt has opened up about how she thinks her late parents were instrumental in helping her get the opportunity to star in ‘The Masked Singer.’ (Michael Becker/FOX. ©2023 FOX Media LLC.)
She continued, “I was coming out of breast reconstruction. The anesthesia was wearing off and I was in the facility, just waking up from it, checking my emails, groggy returning to my friends. wondering how I had done it.”
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“And there’s the invitation to appear in ‘The Masked Singer’. I think my parents had to deal with the synchronicity of that. They’re helping me through the other side of that.”
Witt was the 14th contestant to be eliminated during the show’s ninth season, which premiered in February. She told Fox News Digital that she got emotional thinking about her parents before going on stage for the first time.
“I knew they would have really enjoyed watching those performances, and it made me cry to have that thought,” she recalled. “But that was immediately followed by the thought that they were definitely watching these performances. They were there with me. They were there with me as I played them.”
Witt added: “Rather than thinking, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, they won’t see that. I think not only do they see it, but it has everything to do with the fact – the fact of when it helped me remember that they’re there every step of the way.”
Witt’s parents died at their home in December 2021. (Instagram Alicia Witt)
The actress’ parents, Robert Witt, 87, and Diane Witt, 75, died of exposure to cold weather at their home in Worcester, Mass., according to the state medical examiner’s office . Their cause of death was cited as “probable cardiac dysrhythmia” due to the cold. Police found the couple on Dec. 20 after Witt asked a relative to check on them after she hadn’t heard from them for several days. Officers said at the time that the heating system was not working.
In an Instagram post she shared in February 2022, Witt wrote that she repeatedly offered to help her parents, but they always firmly refused. She described them as “fiercely stubborn” and said she had no idea they had no heat.
At the time, Witt said she was just beginning her treatments for breast cancer. She first revealed her diagnosis in June 2022 after completing her chemotherapy and undergoing a unilateral mastectomy.
The actress said she believes her parents were with her on her “The Masked Singer” journey “every step of the way.” (Instagram Alicia Witt)
The singer told Fox News Digital that competing on “The Masked Singer” in the wake of her health issues and personal tragedies was a “profound” experience.
“It was so deep for me, way beyond fun and madness to be able to sing under a mask like that,” she said. “As someone who likes to connect with people through song and voice – and that’s why I make my own music and go out and have been doing it for about 15 years – but I I’ve never had the experience of connecting with someone through a song without them seeing who I am.”
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She continued, “And that’s a whole other thing. It’s more emotional than I could have ever imagined. I was in tears at the end of both of my performances because it’s like, little it doesn’t matter, whoever you are, we have a character, whether you’re recognizing someone from something they starred in or not. But for me, because it’s part of my life, it was particularly meaningful to be able to sing behind something that offered me complete anonymity.
“And then having the reaction that it did, making the panelists guess that I was the singers that did this all their life. Singers that I’ve always looked up to. It always brings me to tears. And that was very special For me.”
The ‘The Walking Dead’ actress went on to recall some of the most significant guesses panelists, including Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke, and viewers made about her identity before she was unmasked.
“I couldn’t believe my ears when Robin guessed Sarah McLachlan after the first performance after ‘Over the Rainbow,'” she said. “I was full of tears under that mask. I just couldn’t believe any professional singer would guess I was Sarah McLachlan.”
She continued: “Then last night’s episode, Sara Bareilles, who I thought of when people ask me who my music sounds like, I think, well, best case scenario, I would like that. a fan of Sara Bareilles appreciates my music too.”
The ‘The Walking Dead’ star was the 14th contestant to be eliminated during the show’s ninth season. (Michael Becker/FOX. ©2023 FOX Media LLC.)
“But to me, she’s just the ultimate piano singer-songwriter. I couldn’t admire her more than I do. To be compared to her by Robin Thicke. I mean, there’s really no of words.”
Witt said she was also taken aback by some of the audience’s guesses, one of which was Vanessa Williams.
“What a blessing for me to have this. To have this in my life,” she said.
The Massachusetts native admitted her elaborate dandelion headpiece was “heavy”. “I saw it sitting there on the table and I thought, wait, at night I just swing it all over my head? They just have to clip it in place, and you have to stay real straight, so you don’t. I don’t. don’t go like Lucille Ball in that episode where she’s on the ramp as a showgirl,” she recalled with a laugh.
Witt released her new single “Witness” and accompanying music video earlier this week. She told Fox News Digital that the song was inspired by the hardships she had endured over the past year and how she had overcome them.
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“I’m singing about going through the other side of a chapter that I think…if someone had said to me, ‘OK, in a few weeks you’re going to be going through not one, but several incredibly difficult things. And they’re all going to happen at the same time and people are going to know about it.'”
Earlier in the week, Witt released her new single “Witness.” (Michael Becker/FOX. ©2023 FOX Media LLC.)
She continued: “One thing, I had no choice but to know if people knew. And the other thing is that I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I knew, even at the moment when I was going through it, that I wanted to share.”
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“The horror and the terror and all the things that I felt receiving that phone call. I wanted to help the women out there who are getting that phone call to think about the people who have come to the other side and to know that they are not alone,” added Witt.
“The same way Katie Couric and Julia Louis-Dreyfus did last year. There is power in sharing this story. When, thank God, I came out the other side and I got the green light, I knew I was going to tell this story.”
“But while I was in the thick of it, that line, ‘Will you be my witness’ kept coming back. It’s also a love song for those closest, most close to me. Who walked side by side with me as I went through it all. Who know the whole story. And they are forever my witness to what I’ve been through. So this is an anthem dedicated to all those who have been there and their witnesses. We are all in this together.
Witt’s single “Witness” is out now.
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