Jana Kramer has wanted to be on The Masked Singer since it debuted in 2019 — but her husband, Allan Russell, was somewhat more skeptical of the singing competition show.
“I was so thrilled when I got the text, I was sitting there with my husband on the couch,” Kramer, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of her Thursday, November 28, elimination from the Fox series. “I just started screaming, and my husband’s like, ‘What?’ And I’m like, ‘I just got offered The Masked Singer.’ And he’s like, ‘The what?’ And I’m like, ‘The Masked Singer. You don’t know what that is?’”
Kramer — whose costume was the Royal Knight — went on to show Russell, 43, clips of the show, which she often watches with her kids, but he was still a bit thrown by footage of contestants performing in enormous, elaborate costumes.
“He’s like, ‘And you wanna do that?’” Kramer recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Yes, I do. Like 1,000 percent!’ He was confused … but I was so, so thrilled.”
While Russell was not up to date on Masked Singer lore, Kramer’s children were fully on board with her decision to do the show — and nearly blew up her spot with their friends. (Kramer shares daughter Jolie, 8, and son Jace, 5, with ex-husband Mike Caussin, while she and Russell welcomed son Roman in November 2023.)
“They were telling their friends at school, they were saying, ‘Hey, you should really watch The Masked Singer,’” Kramer said with a laugh. “And I was like, ‘Jolie, you can’t say that. You can’t tell them that it’s Mommy.’ She was like, ‘I’m not, Mommy! I’m just saying, ‘You know, you should really watch it.’”
While Kramer’s kids have always known it was their mom under the Royal Knight mask, her other family members weren’t in the know — and she was excited to finally spill the beans with this week’s special Thanksgiving episode. One person, however, guessed right away that Kramer was on the show.
“My sister-in-law texted me last week and was like, ‘When are you gonna tell us that you have an alter ego named the Royal Knight?’” the “Whine Down” host shared. “So they were slowly figuring it out, and most of the time I just played silly.”
Though Kramer signed on for The Masked Singer in part to make her family smile, the experience ended up bringing her some unexpected joy as well. She’s released two of her own albums and several singles, but singing as the Royal Knight gave her more faith in her talents.
“I feel like I allowed myself to have so much more fun being in a mask,” Kramer explained. “I got to just go out there and truly just be me. I feel like a lot of times when I go out on stage — I’m not a shy person, but I do get like, ‘Oh, man, I wanna make sure I hit every note.’ Which I don’t ever hit every note, but I feel like I’m more insecure. But when I was out there doing The Masked Singer, it’s like I felt so confident and I had fun. I think that’s what I lacked when I go on stage other times.”
The Masked Singer airs on Fox Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Hulu.
