How Fuzzy Peas’ Athletic Past Prepared Him for The Masked Singer

This post contains spoilers for The Masked Singer season 13, episode 2.

The Masked Singer’s Fuzzy Peas, now revealed as Oscar De La Hoya, pulled off a rare feat — stumping all four of the show’s panelists.

Ahead of his unmasking on the Wednesday, February 19, episode of the Fox competition series, De La Hoya, 52, didn’t come to the minds of Jenny McCarthy, Rita Ora, Ken Jeong or Robin Thicke. Instead, the group guessed a variety of other celebrities, including Antonio Banderas and John Leguizamo.

“When they were throwing out these names, I was like, ‘OK, wait, are they getting close? Are they getting warmer or colder?’” De La Hoya exclusively recalled to Us Weekly. “When they said Antonio Banderas, I was like, ‘Oh, wait a second.’ … I believe they mentioned the Oscars or something. It’s like, ‘Hello, I’m right here! Just guess Oscar!’”

There was a big hint in Fuzzy Peas’ first clue package that the judges didn’t seem to pick up on, which noted he’s “known for [his] hits, some of them Grammy-nominated.” The “hits” in question are on one level a reference to his storied boxing career, but De La Hoya also earned a Grammy nod in 2001 for his one and only album.

“Music is in my blood,” he told Us. “My mother was a professional singer. So when they asked me, of course I was like, ‘Yes, please sign me up. This is gonna be a lot of fun.’”

De La Hoya previously appeared on The Masked Dancer in 2021, finishing in fourth place. After his reveal, he says The Masked Singer was harder, even though he came in with some singing experience.

“With dancing, you can have a choreographer and they can teach you a few moves, and you can get by, right? But with singing, it’s your voice,” he explained. “You’re pitching your voice and you can practice, but I wasn’t born to sing. I was born to fight. So I was more nervous doing The Masked Singer because it was out of my element.”

Despite those initial nerves, he felt right at home once he got on stage, in part because the experience reminded him of the way he approached boxing matches earlier in his career.

“It’s funny because when I’m in the locker room, getting ready to step out into the ring in front of 20,000 people, you’re prepared,” he told Us. “Once the first bell rings, it’s like, no pressure. You’re focused. So when I was backstage putting on my Fuzzy Peas, you’re nervous, you’re petrified. But once you’re on stage, it’s like, ‘OK, boom, lights on. Let’s go. Let’s perform.’ And that’s what made it fun. You’re nervous, but once that switch goes off you’re just having a blast.”

While De La Hoya doesn’t think he’ll be releasing another album anytime soon, he may put his Fuzzy Peas chops to work at the local karaoke bar.

“I’ll go in front of anybody, I don’t care. Let’s go,” he said, noting that his go-to song is the first one performed on the show, “La Bamba” by Ritchie Valens. “Boxing literally kind of prepared me for the stage of The Masked Singer in a way, because when I went out there behind the mask, I felt I was in my element.”

The Masked Singer airs on Fox Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.