Niecy Nash to take over hosting Masked Singer after Nick Cannon tests positive for COVID

By William Hughes | February 4, 2021 | 1:32am

Aux Features Nick Cannon

Niecy Nash to take over hosting Masked Singer after Nick Cannon tests positive for COVID

Photo credits: Left: Niecy Nash (David Livingston/Getty Images), Right: Nick Cannon (Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images)

Proving, sadly, that not all masks are created equal—and that a cunningly crafted banana head simply cannot keep you as safe as a properly sourced piece of PPE—The Masked Singer host Nick Cannon has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. With the Fox series headed back into its relentless production schedule this Thursday, Cannon has been forced to step back from his usual hosting duties, which will instead be filled, at least for the first few episodes, by the reliably excellent Niecy Nash. Fox has said it expects Cannon to return to the series later in the season.

This will be The Masked Singer’s fifth season in the two years since it first aired in the U.S., because the relentless tide of musical tomato people simply cannot be stemmed. (Sorry.) For those unfamiliar with the show, it serves largely as a platform for Jenny McCarthy to wildly speculate about things in a safe way, one that does not involve discussing, say, vaccines, which will hopefully come as some small comfort to Cannon as he deals with his diagnosis. The series has already spawned two spin-offs, The Masked Dancer and I Can See Your Voice, and is already functionally unkillable.