Darren McMullen Of ‘The Masked Singer’ Says He Didn’t Know Fans Were Horny For Prawn
TV presenter and actor Darren McMullen aka Prawn was dropped from The Masked Singer overnight, after failing to dazzle everyone with a rendition of Robbie Williams’ ‘Let Me Entertain You’.
It was him or the Wolf (Millsy) on the chopping block, and Hughesy finally got to do what he has been asking to do for weeks and weeks now: rip Prawn’s head off.
Prawn's about to be de-shelled! RIP THAT HEAD OFF! #MaskedSingerAU
— The Masked Singer Australia (@maskedsinger_au) October 7, 2019
Prawn’s following online has always been thirsty for him. There’s just been something about the way his performances were all very cheeky and flirty??? Pirate swagger is hot?? Even when it’s a crustacean? I don’t know, my ovaries are very confused rn.
That’s one hot prawn ??
Didn’t pick @darrenmcmullen ?@maskedsinger_au #maskedsingerau— Leo Stubbing (@LeoStubbing) October 7, 2019
I think its Darren McMullen, a prawn I could eat up ??
— TalkingTrashTV (@TalkingTrashTV1) October 3, 2019
Punkee spoke to Darren McMullen about becoming a Masked Singer sex symbol, how he could’ve been the Monster, and his dream of playing King George III in Hamilton.
Here’s what Darren McMullen had to say about his time on The Masked Singer:
On what it’s like to go from being The Voice host to a contestant on a reality singing show
“It was brilliant. For so many years, for five seasons I did The Voice, and I was like, ‘God, I’d love to sing on this stage, I wonder what it’s like.’ In a lot of ways, it’s kind of the same thing as the blind auditions, right? The panel has no idea who the person is… It was good, I got to live out my Voice fantasies dressed as a giant prawn on stage.”
On why he wanted to have a stab at The Masked Singer
“I saw [The Masked Singer] when I was in America. I was like, ‘That’s so cool.’ I’ve always wanted to be on stage and sing – I’m pretty into musical theatre. The opportunity arose. I thought, ‘This is the moment to do it. I want to prove to myself that I could do it. What better way to throw yourself in the deep end than to sing on the biggest show in the country right now in front of the nation?’ It was great. It was just a laugh. I had so many moments spent alone in my dressing room looking at a big, one-eyed prawn staring back at me, going, ‘This is so good. What a bonkers show I’m part of.'”
On why he felt like he was meant to be the Prawn
“Well, there were a couple of options – they thought maybe I would suit the Monster or the Prawn. The outfit really picked me ultimately. When I had that Prawn outfit on, I felt like that Captain Jack Sparrow, swaggy kind of prawn. I thought, ‘Oh, this is the guy.’ I just kind of encapsulated that guy for the run of the show, which worked out well, because the songs we had picked; [the] first week was Elvis, then Freddie Mercury, and then Robbie Williams. They’re three mega showmen, so I think that kind of sat with the swagger of the Prawn.”
On the horny fandom surrounding the Prawn
“[laughs] I would say I’m not the object of that kind of attention. It would be the Prawn, who very much wasn’t me. The Prawn is my Tyler Durden. He is my alter-ego that I wish I could be: a cool, calm, suave, sophisticated gentleman. I didn’t know people were getting horny for the Prawn – I think it’s hilarious.
“One of my concerns about picking the Prawn in the first place was who is going to love a prawn? Nobody’s going to vote for this guy, nobody’s gonna want a prawn to win, and then I remembered where I was. I’m like, ‘Of course, Australians love a prawn. It will become a tongue-in-cheek joke and a bit of a laugh.’ I think ultimately it was the best costume for me.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat a prawn now, now that I’ve actually lived life as one. I’d feel too guilty and cannibalistic.”
On what it’s really like under that Prawn costume
“I’m not a professionally trained singer and although I thought I could definitely be on stage and sing, I didn’t know that we would have to sing live. I didn’t think there was any point in that because nobody could see anyway. When I found that out, and then I realised how heavy the Prawn costume was and how hot it was in there, plus the fact that we had choreography and dancers, I was like, ‘Jesus.'”
“So not only am I actually singing on stage for the first time, I’m wearing a 50kg prawn suit, I’m going to be 100 degrees and have to dance and work out my breathing as well. It was pretty full-on and nerve-wracking, but I’ve done live TV enough to know that the nerves are just a form of adrenalin.”
On whether his clues were a bit too hard, or too obvious
“I think any clue would’ve been obvious to me. You just have to take yourself out of the equation and hopefully nobody else knows. Some people knew who I was, but equally people were calling somebody completely different. Apparently at some stage the clues were actually deemed to be too hard, and they were thinking about making my clues a bit easier, so I guess it’s lucky they didn’t. They can’t be too hard either: you’ve got to be able to play at home.”
Have you unshelled Prawn yet? Here's some of their clues from #MaskedSingerAU so far for you to pick apart. pic.twitter.com/JMW7c3Gcxw
— The Masked Singer Australia (@maskedsinger_au) October 4, 2019
On his cheeky, pranking relationship with the other masked singers
“We had this real cheeky banter with one another, but non-verbal cheeky banter, and pranks were getting played backstage. I’m actually really looking forward to finding out who’s in all the different costumes so I can finally have a drink with them and we can debrief on this completely bonkers experience we’ve all been through.”
On what he learnt about himself by doing The Masked Singer
“It just reestablished to me: just have fun, just do what you love, and life won’t last forever. I love what I do. I absolutely adore the fact that I get to play make-believe for a living and do this thing that we do as kids, and it’s somehow become my job. I don’t have to go and work a nine-to-five, it allows me to travel and do some things like dress up as a prawn and sing on stage. So just to be incredibly grateful for the life I have. I really was: every day before I would go out and sing, I would meditate and was just overwhelmed with gratitude for the amazing life I have and I never forget that.
“Just never let fear hold you back as well. That was a big fear of mine, getting up and singing. I thought I could sing, but I didn’t know I could sing on stage in front of all those people. I think it was just another reminder you can’t let fear, fear of failure, hold you back.
“It was a really sad experience having to hang up the prawn head ultimately – I would love to have done more and more of it. But hopefully at least, of all the things, I would love to do some musical theatre now, so if this opens up some of those doors, that would be great.”
On his dream role in a musical
“I want to play King George in Hamilton, the musical. I’m obsessed with Hamilton. I’ve seen it eight times, all around the world. I know every lyric, every song. I just think it’s the greatest piece of art that’s been created for stage in our generation, and I would love to be a part of it.”