Dick Van Dyke Says People ‘Thought I Was Dead’ After He’s Revealed As ‘Masked Singer’ Contestant At 97

Last week, we reported that the Hollywood star Dick Van Dyke had been revealed to be the Gnome on “The Masked Singer” at the age of 97. Now, he’s speaking out to reveal why he didn’t think the judges would be able to guess that it was him being the mask.

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‘People Thought I Was Dead’

When the Gnome took the stage to perform, judges Robin Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong and Jenny McCarthy guessed that he could have been Tony Bennett, Dustin Hoffman or Robert De Niro. 

“I felt pretty good about Tony Bennett. I wasn’t crazy about any of the other ones,” Van Dyke told Entertainment Weekly. “But I knew that they couldn’t guess who I was. I don’t think they expected anybody from my generation to be on that show. So I knew I was gonna fool them.”

“They were so surprised. I stepped out and everybody’s mouths dropped open. I think some people thought I was dead,” he continued. “They were so surprised. I stepped out and everybody’s mouths dropped open. I think some people thought I was dead.”

Van Dyke went on to say that he had never seen “The Masked Singer” before he agreed to go on it.

“When they asked me to do it, I had never seen it. So I looked at it on the air and it looked like fun,” he said. “And I was so positive that nobody would ever guess it was me, that they would have somebody 97 years old on there.”

“And the experience was weird, because they have to keep it a secret from the crew,” he added. “So I walked around with my head covered with people leading me. They’ve got a nice crew, but I never got to meet any of them! I would say it’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.”

Related: Dick Van Dyke, 97, Revealed As The Gnome On ‘The Masked Singer’

Judges Get Emotional

The judges could not help but get emotional when Van Dyke’s identity was revealed on the show.

“I love you so much, we love you, the whole world loves you so much. It’s an honor to have you on our show,” a visibly emotional Scherzinger said. “I can’t believe you’re here, I’m trying to like play it cool. You look so gorgeous, you look so handsome.”

“I love Dick Van Dyke,” she later added. “You’re our childhood.”

Van Dyke wasn’t that surprised by the judges’ emotional reaction to him, as he gets that reaction quite a bit these days.

“I have had that happen, yes. You know what is fun now?” he said. “We’re on our third generation and I would get little kids who will see me and say, ‘It’s [his Mary Poppins character] Bert!’ And I love that, that kids are just discovering those movies now. And it’s great to be on a third generation.”

Related: Dick Van Dyke, 97, Spotted Outside Local Labor Center Handing Out Money To Those In Need

Van Dyke Performs

After his identity was revealed, Van Dyke treated the judges and the audience to a performance of the Mary Poppins song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Check that out for yourself in the video below.

Van Dyke is a true living legend who has been working in Hollywood for over 65 years. It’s great to see that at 97 years of age, he’s still loving life and performing just as much as he ever did!