‘The Masked Singer’ Contestant Signed on Because of ‘Financial Pressures’ and to Distract From His Divorce

Australian pop star Darren Hayes broke his commitment to never participate in The Masked Singer Australia in an attempt to distract himself from the loss of his marriage and the financial strain of resuming his touring career. At the 2023 grand finale last week, Hayes was runner-up to winner Dami Im’s Snow Fox as the immensely popular Grim Reaper.

After the former Savage Garden frontman removed his mask, he unveiled that the year had been challenging for him following the release of his comeback album Homosexual, launching a concert tour as an independent artist for the first time in his career, as well as his divorce from husband of 17 years, Richard Cullen.

“I think if you look at that album and what I was singing about, I was making the decision to sort of move on by coming back to music,” he told The Courier Mail. “Like anything, it’s liberating at first because I think there was a part of me that was asleep for a long time and a part of me that was grieving for a long time, but releasing a statement about a marriage ending is hard for someone like me who’s a private person.”

“So when The Masked Singer came up – and I’d said no so many times and to the UK version too – it was such a lovely distraction and something really humbling about doing it.” Under the pretense of research for his upcoming memoir, Hayes returned to his hometown for the filming in June and visited with his mom, Judy, during that time.

While he felt “evil” keeping the show secret from his mother, he couldn’t take the risk of possible leaks. Contestants’ paychecks are reportedly worth up to $200,000 per episode, plus fees. “You sign an NDA [Non-Disclosure Agreement] and it’s not an insignificant amount of money that you get paid. So I didn’t want to lose the money,” he said.

“And I love my mum and she’s trustworthy, but she’s also proud and what if she told someone?” Even though fans took to social media to protest the fact that he was “robbed” of the 2023 title, Hayes insisted he knew Im would win since she has the most impressive vocal range and was popular with audiences thanks to her Snow Fox character.

Fellow Australian singer Im, who had also declared she would never compete on the show despite the devoted fans’ persistent efforts, won The Masked Singer title on the very stage she triumphed on the X Factor a decade before. However, after SBS abandoned plans for a Eurovision: Australia Decides selection show, she was willing to take on the challenge.

Due to taking a short break from her career after giving birth to her son Harrison last year, there was “zero pressure.” “All I said at the beginning was I just didn’t want to lose in the first week to a non-singer, like a comedian or somebody. That would be embarrassing,” she said.