The Masked Singer reveals Woodpecker as sitcom star Marsai Martin

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 12, Episode 3, “Soundtrack of My Life Night.”

Woodpecker has officially taken off The Masked Singer Stage.

Wednesday's Soundtrack of My Life Night episode also served as the Group A finale, meaning two people go home unless the Ding Dong Keep It On bell is used. The first to fly out of the stable was Woodpecker, who was exposed to betray the cause Black Star, actress and producer Marsai Martin.

Before her unmasking (which none of the panelists guessed correctly!), Weekly entertainment caught up with Martin to talk about her experience on the show as a long-time fan, the sweet moment she made her masked ambassador – Jenifer Lewis – cry, and whether or not she plans to pursue music .

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Your final clue package featured the women in your life, particularly your grandmother, who you said watches every episode of The Masked Singer. Did she know you were going to do the show?

MARSAI MARTIN: She probably only knew about it a week before I had to start filming, as my grandma also lives with us. I live in a household with five people, including my sister. I didn't tell my sister at all because she is 8 and I know she would tell the whole school. So there were some people who weren't in the equation at all, but definitely my grandma needed to know why I wouldn't be home.

Were you able to watch this season with her and see her reaction?

Actually no, I didn't. I try to stay away from it as much as possible. I know she was just excited. She was with us on the East Coast and we were filming on the West Coast, so it was hilarious when I came back to the East Coast (after filming) and asked her, “How was it?” What songs did you sing?” She was so excited. I didn't tell her about it. I just thought, “Well, the fact that I'm here tells you I didn't win – but it's okay, it's fine.” But it was so fun to see how excited she was, when the episodes came out. When she saw my first performance, (Miley Cyrus) “Flowers,” she was so excited. I was in New York at the time working on something else, so she texted me like, “Oh my God, you did so great!” She was so, so happy.

At what point in the process did you find out that your… Black Co-star Jenifer Lewis (aka TMS“Miss Cleocatra) was your masked ambassador?”

I think I found out a few days before. Obviously we need to discuss with our producers our schedule for the week, and they actually told me, “We're going to have someone, an ambassador, who's going to talk to us and drop hints about who you are.” And then they asked me to guess who it was, and then they said, “It's Jenifer Lewis.” After she wrote down her clues, they actually allowed her to come into my trailer because she probably didn't know who she was talking about, but I did I think she was like, “I thought it was you.” She came into the trailer and just started crying. Shesa was so upset. In fact, we haven't seen each other that much since Black was over, that was about two or three years ago. So to see them and exchange ideas and tell me about their experiences since the season The Masked Singer And as expected, all of these things were so, so helpful. I think that was the day of my first performance. So it was so much fun.

One of your clue packages mentioned Beyoncé. Now you've done it Masked singerDo you think you could try putting out music, maybe a collaboration with her?

Oh Lord. If I do that, it'll probably be so unusual, just like that, bloop, here's something! But I'm not going to be a singer. I don't know if that makes sense. I'm not going to say: Okay, here's my debut album. But who knows? Maybe, I don't know. But you know what I love about it The Masked Singer Does it give you a platform where you don't feel nervous or overwhelmed? Because I feel like it, I've sung in the past, but I've always been a little nervous because it's not what I do full-time and I'm a perfectionist at heart. So I wanted to make sure everything was my opinion and that it was exactly right. But I think it will continue The Masked SingerIt just gave me a platform to do all of these things, but only behind the mask and with people who don't know who you are and the curiosity of who Woodpecker is. So I think it's really cool to be able to do that in that regard. Maybe Woodpecker drops music. I don't know. We'll see. But I think that's what was so exciting about the show, is that your identity isn't shown at all, so you can basically do and be anything you want.

Since you were such a big fan of the show, did the execution actually exceed your expectations or was there anything that surprised you?

Yes, a lot of different things. I think, firstly, I didn't realize how hard it was. I'll be honest, it looked like it was easy just because you were, oh, wearing a mask. In a way, you are like your own mascot. You can just do anything. But then when you get there you think: No, this is a competition. You kind of change your perspective and think, Oh no, you actually want to win this if you can try. And I think when I got into it I always thought: I'm just doing this for fun, to have a good time. And then came the rehearsals and then came the time in the studio and then worked with the crew to fine-tune the performances and make sure they were up to par. And I think all of those things made it a little bit more real and more like a competition, which I think a lot of people don't realize because I think when you watch the show it just feels like it's her Going on stage for the first time and just doing anything. No. We practiced three times before the judges came, and without anyone seeing, you're still hidden. Therefore, no one knows each other's identities. It just felt very, it was intense. It was really intense and you want to do a great job. So I think all of those things played a role, which I think ultimately made the experience even cooler.

But I loved being a woodpecker. It was so, so much fun. And the crew was so great and the producers were so welcoming, making you feel comfortable about everything. And yes, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT on Fox.