Joel McHale Addresses Whether He Would Ever Appear on ‘The Masked Dancer’ (Exclusive)

The Masked Dancer twirled its way to the top spot as one of the season’s highest-rated entertainment programs following its Sunday night premiere on FOX. Drawing in a total of 4.8 million viewers thanks to the fancy footwork, The Masked Singer spinoff has proven to be another successful series for the network and former guest panelist Joel McHale tells PopCulture.com it’s a massive triumph thanks to his good friend, Ken Jeong. But don’t think that means he’ll act as a judge or even compete on the series.

“No, I’m not going to be on it because, I mean, they haven’t asked me. […] You think I knew anything about singing? I know less about dance. OK?” McHale told us in our series, PopCulture @ Home. “I’d be like, ‘That pirouette was terrible. Who do you think you are, Terry Bradshaw or something?’ […] Of all the people to be judging dance, could you imagine me?”

McHale says some have wondered if he would welcome an opportunity in dancing under a costume since he won’t judge, but he shoots down those hopes, as well. “I would break my leg — a compound fracture. The bone would be sticking out,” he said when confessing his reply to fans and friends asking. “And people would be like, ‘Well, his dancing was so awful that this finally put an end to it, so thank God.’”

The 49-year-old praises Craig Robinson as host of the series for being “super funny,” while adding how —with the success Jeong has found on FOX with The Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice — it’s only natural The Masked Dancer is “going to be a hit.”

“Dancing is just one more thing you can do with that format. When The Masked Singer started two years ago — two and a half years ago — I was on the show and didn’t understand the format,” McHale said. “I’m like, ‘Am I guessing or judging? What am I doing?’ And obviously, the format works so well, and if you had said to me — I would’ve been like, ‘I don’t know. That seems crazy.’ And all the clue packages look like Requiem for a Dream the whole time.”

Though McHale says he won’t be on The Masked Dancer anytime soon, he will be seen next helping ring in 2021 alongside Jeong for FOX’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast on Thursday night. “I’m just excited to get to it. I really want to do it and Ken — I’ll drag him along and show him how to do it, and then he’ll be thankful,” he said, adding how it’ll be the first time he’s hosting something of this magnitude too. “I’m really excited to do it.”

McHale and Jeong, who first met on the set of Community in 2009 after McHale “allowed him” to be a friend, reveals the night will be an “easy hang” thanks to their chemistry.

“I think with us — me ridiculing him and him to me on The Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice, and our podcast (The Darkest Timeline) and stuff — I think that kind of established the language that we speak to each other — and that language is German,” he said. “[But] yeah, so when we got the call to do it, I think Ken pitched [the FOX special] — so thank you, Ken — and it seemed really fun, and I think it’ll be a blast. It’ll be totally unprofessional, but it’ll be a blast.”

FOX’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2021, hosted by McHale and Jeong, airs live on Dec. 31 from 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET and continues the second part of its broadcast from 11 p.m. ET to 12:30 a.m. ET, check your local listings. For more with Joel and The Masked Dancer, keep it locked to PopCulture.com!