John Oates Calls “Masked Singer” the 'Weirdest Thing' He's Done, Almost Fainted During His Elimination: 'Never So Happy to Lose'

Rachel DeSantisFri, April 3, 2026 at 6:32 PM UTC

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John Oates on The Masked Singer with host Nick CannonCredit: Michael Becker/FOX -

John Oates called his time on The Masked Singer both the "weirdest thing I've ever done"

The Hall & Oates rocker struggled with the bulky costume, and nearly fainted during his elimination

He appeared on season 10 of the hit series in 2023 as Anteater

John Oates is no longer masking his true feelings on his time spent competing on The Masked Singer.

The former Hall & Oates rocker, 77, came in sixth place when he competed as Anteater on season 10 of the Fox series in the fall of 2023. But in a new interview on the Rock & Roll High School podcast, Oates said his experience wasn’t exactly the best.

“It’s either a high point in my career or a low point in my career. Maybe a little of both,” he said on Thursday, April 2. “I took a leap of faith and I said, ‘Sure, let me give it a try.’ I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. It was really weird, I have to say. In fact, it was the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.”

Oates said he’d never seen the show before, but is at a point in his career where he “just want[s] to do stuff.” Still, he faced difficulty singing, moving and seeing while stuck inside the bulky costume.

Anteater (John Oates) on The Masked SingerCredit: Michael Becker/FOX

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer explained that he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone that he was filming the show, so “made up some bulls---” about filming a TV pilot to explain why he was constantly flying to and from Los Angeles.

On the day he was eliminated, Oates had flown into L.A. around 2:30 a.m. after playing the Newport Folk Festival, and had to report to set at 8:30 a.m.

“So I go from folk music to wearing an anteater suit, and then I get out there and I was starting to feel dizzy and really weird,” he recalled.

After his performance, Oates was semi-eliminated, and had to compete in a sing-off to battle it out in an attempt to stick around.

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“I’m on stage and I’m literally thinking, ‘I’m gonna fall over. I know I’m going to fall over.’ I’m sweating and I felt so s---ty,” he said. “And so luckily, I lost. And when they told me I lost, I was so happy. I couldn’t wait to take that head off.”

He continued: “I did my best to act like I was having fun, but honestly, I swear to God, I thought I was going to faint. And I said, ‘Okay, that’s it.’ I was never so happy to lose.”

Other stars on Oates’ season of The Masked Singer included tennis player Billie Jean King and singers Macy Gray and Keyshia Cole. Cow — who turned out to be Ne-Yo — was eventually crowned the winner.

During his stint on the series, Oates sang hits including “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn, “I Want it That Way” by Backstreet Boys and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”

During his unmasking, Oates appeared somewhat relieved as the judging panel expressed shock that they hadn’t been able to guess his identity.

John Oates in Atlanta in April 2024.Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty

“I’ll tell you what. I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff in my career. This is one of the best things I’ve ever done. So thank you very much” he said on stage at the time. “It’s been a blast. It’s so great to be in this costume and just sing whatever you want. No one knows.. This is crazy.”

Oates released his self-titled solo album in August, which followed his 2024 solo record Reunion.

“I spent the entire early 2000s squeezing my individual creativity into this very regimented schedule of touring and business,” he told PEOPLE in 2024. “It was debilitating for me, and I couldn’t do it anymore. There was really no creativity left for me in that. It was just about celebrating our past,” he said, noting that Reunion felt like the first time he’d been able to “fully commit.”

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”