Gordon Ramsay shows he has some serious sway on ‘The Masked Singer’

It may seem a bit odd to have a world-renowned chef appear as a guest panelist on The Masked Singer (Wednesdays, 9 pET, CTV), but Gordon Ramsay isn’t just any guest: this is a guy that knows how to play to an audience. After all, as host Nick Cannon reminded everyone at the top of the hour, Ramsay has had more shows on the Fox network than Bart Simpson. That’s probably why he looked so comfy next to Jenny McCarthy and Ken Jeong on that panel as the Battle of the Sixes kicked off. As it turns out, he’s actually not too bad at the guessing game either.

Cooking up some more clues

Sure, as far as guest Brits go Ramsay was no Sharon Osbourne, but he managed to hold his own with very few clues as Kitty, Frog, Night Angel, Rhino, Turtle and Astronaut took the stage. Because this is The Masked Singer and the powers that be like to dish out themes to go with their guests, each of the performers also unveiled their favourite “Masked Munchies” at the end of their songs. More than once Ramsay had to explain what the dish in question was (Kitty’s gateau opera was clearly another sign that she’s Jackie Evancho, right?), and he only lost his cool once, when Turtle presented an apple salsa. (According to the chef, that is definitely not a thing.)[video_embed id='1501883']RELATED: Ken Jeong showed us his infamous dance moves and it was the best[/video_embed]It’s also hard to think of any other guest panelist that could have convinced Nick Cannon to eat one of the fried crickets that Night Angel conjured up on her plate. Seeing the other panelists—mainly Nicole Scherzinger—lose it when Nick hesitantly popped it into his mouth was a total highlight, and it basically proved once and for all that Cannon really is a great host. He clearly did not want to eat a bug on television, but once people started chanting what else was he supposed to do? The show’s gotta go on.

I’m glad @GordonRamsay was able to convince him ?? #TheMaskedSinger https://t.co/zjJwAlhwK5

— Nicole Scherzinger (@NicoleScherzy) April 30, 2020

The magic of Gordo didn’t stop there. After Astronaut’s performance, he had Robin Thicke believing the celeb underneath was Jonathan Taylor Thomas, while his guess that Charlotte Church is underneath Kitty’s mask had the other panelists reconsidering everything they know. As for his theory that Adam Lambert is actually Turtle? Well that puts him on par with Jenny, and we all know she’s leading the scoreboard right now in terms of accurate guesses.

Next-level performances

Now that the show is down to the final six, all of the contestants are getting the chance to really scope out the competition and up their own games. For Kitty, that meant showing off more than just a great voice, and so she added some flair to her performance of Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Turtle took a page from that same book after seeing how well Frog has been getting jiggy with it, and he busted out some boy band inspired moves during his rendition of Alessia Cara’s “Stay.” Even Astronaut tried to up his dance moves with “Story of My Life,” but in the latter case it just wasn’t enough to keep him on the show for another week.There were no last-minute Smack Downs or twists that could save the performer when he received the least audience votes by the episode’s end, and so Astro’s time as the punny, out-of-this-world performer came to an end. But not before Nicole pulled out a last-minute lightbulb moment and correctly guessed that the man underneath was none other than country star Hunter Hayes. Turns out the performer has been wanting to show another side of himself lately, and The Masked Singer provided the perfect opportunity.

? SPOILER ALERT ? #AstronautMask is...#TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/ZGvyWFwRPS

— The Masked Singer (@MaskedSingerFOX) April 30, 2020

“It's been an unbelievable experience,” the five-time Grammy winner told the panel after the mask came off. “This time in my life is a great chance for me to sort of hit a reset button and to try a bunch of things that I was scared of. And this show is full of those. I've never danced properly before. I've never worked on choreo. Trying new songs, trying new things with my voice, this has been incredible.”Where the “Wanted” singer’s career will take him next is anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to say this experience has definitely grounded him. In the meantime that leaves five finalists heading into next week’s show. With only a handful of episodes left we have a feeling it’s going to be pretty intense.The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CTV.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Watch Katharine McPhee adorably hijack David Foster's performance[/video_embed]