The Masked Singer loves Lamp.
On Wednesday's episode of the competition series, Melissa Joan Hart unmasked as Lamp after singing Bananarama's "Venus" and Elton John's "Rocket Man." Before coming on the show, the Clarissa Explains It All star, 46, tells PEOPLE she considered singing "my worst nightmare."
"This was probably the second time I've ever sang live in front of an audience," Hart reveals. "I was so nervous. The only reason I could do it was because of the mask. It gave me anonymity where I could feel comfortable enough to really belt it out and get it done before anyone realized who I was."
Despite getting eliminated, the mother of sons Mason, 17, Braden, 15, and Tucker, 10, feels like she conquered her fear.
"There's nothing I love more than overcoming a fear," the actress says. "This pushed me into an uncomfortable place that I haven't really been in a long time. It felt really good. My husband gave the best advice. He said, 'If you don't have fun with it, what's the point?'"
Below, Hart reflects on performing under a lamp shade, her youngest son criticizing her singing and which of her famous friends pushed her to do The Masked Singer.
As someone with a fear of singing, was being under the costume what sold you on doing it?
MELISSA JOAN HART: Yes. That's the only reason I felt like I could do it. I didn't want anyone to take me too seriously, to think that I thought I was some kind of great singer that I was going to make a career out of this or switch all of a sudden to being a country artist or something like that. I moved to Nashville recently. I was afraid people might be like, "Oh, she wants to get into country." No, I just did it purely fun. I did it so that I could conquer a fear, have some fun and my kids love the show, so that is just a bonus.
Do your kids know you were on the show?
My little one heard me singing in the shower a few times. He heard me practicing and he'd be like, "No, just no." He knew when I was watching a lot of episodes, trying to study up on how the show works and stuff. He was excited. He has managed to keep a really good secret between the two of us. It was kind of nice. It's a big, funny secret on our house.
Did you ask any of your friends who have done the show about their experiences when you were deciding if you wanted to do it?
I called Chris Kirkpatrick and said, "You did Masked Singer, right? "What was your experience?" He's like, "You have to do it." My agents were like, "I don't think you should do this. You're not a great singer." I'm like, "I know. But all my peers have done it. Joey Lawrence, Chris Kirkpatrick. I feel like I'm missing out." I just had to pull it together and enjoy every moment of it. I really did. I tried to do that on Dancing with the Stars, and I wasn't really able to. I took this as a redo and had a blast.
Were you able to see anything from under the lampshade?
I didn't see anything. I was having a really hard time moving. The mask itself was heavy and so wide and large. There was a bar that went down my spine and into a corset piece that wrapped around my waist. My movement was very restricted, which was kind of a bummer because the thing I really am good at is moving and dancing. That's why I was hoping I have some fun with that, but the costume was a little restricting. I am not a claustrophobic person, but I got claustrophobic. You have gloves on and you're covered up. I had four layers. It's like being 5 years old at Halloween again.
What did you think of the guesses that you were getting from the judges? Your name did come up, but a lot of your peers who were on popular shows in the '90s and 2000s did as well.
I thought they were fantastic guesses! Especially Alyssa Milano, being that I think she and I are about the same height, and she played a witch on TV too. Until the end when I was about to be unmasked, they were kind of like, "Ah, it's Melissa, isn't it?" Except for Ken [Jeong], who's the one I've worked with before.
What roles are you getting recognized for the most these days?
It's so many different things. Internationally it tends to be Sabrina [the Teenage Witch], but a lot of Europeans are just now catching onto Melissa and Joey, which in the pandemic I think really had a second life. If they're in Latin America, it's probably Sabrina. The older fans that are about my age tend to be really avid Clarissa [fans]. That was something they grew up with and they really held onto that character. Whenever I meet a 14- or 15-year-old and they go, "I love your work." I'm always like, "Which one?" It's always No Good Nick, which is my Netflix show. Then there's always the Dancing with the Stars people, too. Then there's people that, "I used to love going to your candy store." I have a really wonderful fan base of people from all different generations, all different walks of life. I feel very blessed.
You talked in your clue package about growing up in the spotlight. How do you reflect on that experience today?
I count myself very blessed that it was right before the social media burst on the scene and took away people's privacy in a way. Granted, you get to dictate your own story nowadays, but I do think that when we're young and dumb, we think everything we have to say is the most important thing, and we think everything we do is the funniest thing. I'm glad to have avoided that.
How do you approach your children's social media use?
With our oldest one, we waited until eighth grade to give him a smartphone. He was allowed a kid's smartwatch and then he was allowed a flip phone. The younger one gave us a presentation and paid for his own cell phone. He was able to get a smartphone a little bit younger. With social media, we told them they're not allowed on until they're 14 at least. They seem to be pretty good about it. My middle one likes to make TikToks. He likes to make edits. If that's what he is using it for, I'm good with that. The older one just looks at it because he is obsessed with airplanes, so social media for him is checking out different airplanes and pilots. They're pretty innocent about it, even though they're 15 or 17. It's the little one I'm worried about. He's starting to get into those YouTube shorts and that's troublesome. He won't get a phone until he is in at least fifth or sixth grade. We'll hold him off as long as possible.
What's your career focus right now?
The podcast is my once a week we put out, so we've had over 60 episodes of podcast. There's a special episode that's kind of my whole experience on Masked Singer. Then I'm about to head off to Canada to shoot a movie for Lifetime, a true crime movie. That'll be really fun. And try to figure out what my Christmas project will be this year.
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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