Image via FOX
Published Jan 29, 2026, 3:41 PM EST
Lorianne Palinkas has been a reality television writer for Screen Rant for four years. After teaching middle school English for twenty years, she knows a thing or two about high drama, complicated alliances, and even singing competitions. Growing up in New York City gave her a solid foundation in the arts and culture.
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In a shocking ending to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Night, The Masked Singer season 14 contestant Queen Corgi self-eliminated, and was revealed to be comedian and podcaster Claudia Oshry, who hosts The Toast podcast. Claudia wowed host Nick Cannon, the panelists Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Rita Ora, and the audience with her phenomenal performances of "Don't Rain On My Parade" by Barbra Streisand on Premiere Night and "Unstoppable" by Sia on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Night.
None of the panelists guessed Claudia's identity correctly. Instead, they guessed Nikki Blonsky and Ali Wong (Rita), Maya Rudolph and Amy Schumer (Ken), Aidy Bryant (Jenny), and Whitney Cummings (Robin). After Claudia was unmasked, she revealed that she was leaving the competition to spend time with her baby son, who was four months old at the time. Everyone was devastated to see her go because she was a frontrunner to win The Masked Singer season 14.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Claudia explained how she ended up on The Masked Singer season 14 as Queen Corgi, when she decided to self-eliminate, what it was like inside the costume, what she thought of the panelists' wrong guesses, how she chose her songs, when she discovered that she could sing, and if she has any Broadway aspirations.
Claudia Oshry Was Asked To Compete On The Masked Singer Years Ago
ScreenRant: How did you end up joining The Masked Singer?
Claudia Oshry: A couple of years ago, my agent was like, "Would you ever do this show?" And I said, "Yeah, singing live on TV, it's my dream." I do comedy, I do podcasting, but every time I've ever done a stand-up show or a live podcast, I'm like, "I wish I was going on this stage to sing." Like, it is my dream. It's very cliché. So I was like, "Yeah, for sure." And they had asked for a video of me singing. And I think at the time I wasn't the right fit for the show.
And then over the summer, I got a call and my agent was like, "They want you." And I was like, "Yes." It wasn't the best timing for me. I had just had a baby. But I'm never one to turn down an opportunity to sing. So I took it.
Claudia Was Pleasantly Surprised By The Masked Singer Executives' Reaction To Her Self-Elimination
ScreenRant: You shocked everyone when you self-eliminated from the show. You said at the beginning that you were there to win, and I think everybody thought that you were one of the frontrunners. When did you make that decision?
Claudia: It was really hard. I really did intend on taking it all the way. I'm not a professional singer, and I know a lot of the times people who win or make it really far are singers by trade. So I didn't actually think I was gonna win, but I thought I would make it pretty far. And it became apparent to me pretty quickly on the first week or two on set that this was much harder for me than I thought it was gonna be. I was spending a lot of time away from my baby, and I was exclusively breastfeeding, and I was pumping in the trailer. It was just ... it was starting to take its toll.
I was four months postpartum at the time, and I think I really thought that I was, like, done being postpartum, and I was better, and I was fixed. And I don't know why I thought I was. I had kind of like a cavalier approach to it. I think I thought I was immune to any sort of, like, postpartum issue. And I think moving to L.A., and all this change and working ... you know, doing my full-time podcasting, and then going to set and blocking ... I think it very quickly started to take a toll on me. And I knew that.
And, when I decided to speak up about it, I was kind of expecting everyone to be like, "Well, that's too bad. You made a commitment," and I was just gonna see it through. And I was really shocked in a good way to find everyone at FOX, whether it was the showrunners or the executives, really wanting to help me and give me options in terms of how I wanted to proceed. And I felt very supported.
ScreenRant: That's great to hear that they were so supportive of it.
Claudia: Yeah, especially because, like, you know, you hear about TV. I don't do TV a lot. So, you know, kind of the clichés about Hollywood. And I was like, "Well, they're totally gonna tell me to go to hell." And that so was not my experience. And I feel like I keep saying that to everyone because it's so wonderful.
And I feel like it's really due to the fact that so many [of the executives] and the showrunner, Deena [Katz], were mostly all women. Some of them were even pregnant at the time, so I think they really understood what I was talking about. And it made me feel very, very supported. And I'm very grateful for that.
Screenrant: I'm happy that you had such a good experience with that.
Claudia: Not everyone has that, so it needs to be said.
Claudia's Queen Corgi Costume Wasn't Comfortable
Credit: Michael Becker / FOXScreenRant: What was it like inside the Queen Corgi costume?
Claudia: God, it was so hot. And I'm like a temperature-sensitive person. Plus, I was breastfeeding at the time, and when you're breastfeeding, you run very hot. So I'm, like, always hot. And then I was even hotter. And I got to L.A., and I don't know why I just thought I wouldn't have to get in the mask. I'm like, "There's no way these huge celebrities get in the mask. Like, it's definitely fake." No! You sing live in the mask. I thought there was just going to be a lot of movie magic going on, and there really wasn't.
Screenrant: So that was really you on stage the whole time?
Claudia: That was really me. You do choreography, you learn to block, you sing live. And it was a lot. Especially as somebody who's never sung live, all of this was very new to me. Like wearing in-ear monitors, and they have people in your ear talking, and you hear the music. And you also can't really see a ton outside of the mask. You have, like, two little holes for the eyes. It was kind of crazy. I'm surprised I did it successfully.
Claudia Had Her Heart Set On A Song That She Didn't Get To Sing
ScreenRant: You did such a wonderful job with your songs, "Don't Rain on My Parade" and "Unstoppable." How did you choose them?
Claudia: So the process of choosing ... it was interesting to watch. I had a list of songs they asked for. And they really tried to accommodate a lot of my songs. Now, some of them couldn't get cleared legally ... like some artists don't let their songs play on TV or whatever. Some of them had already been sung in the show's history, and they try not to repeat. So that's how I lost "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse, and I was just devastated because that's like my song.
But "Don't Rain On My Parade" was my one that I really wanted. And they got it cleared. Nobody had sung it before. And then they suggested "Unstoppable" by Sia. And I was a little hesitant because I have ten songs that I sing really good. And I wanted to sing one of those ten. And they were like, "Just try it." And my vocal coach was like, "We can arrange it for you in your key." And I said, "Well, I'll try anything." And when I sang it first, I thought to myself, "I can do this, I think." So I ended up [singing it]. I so love that song, and I'm so glad I sang it.
ScreenRant: Yeah, it's not an easy song to sing either. I mean, all of Sia's songs are pretty challenging, so it was really impressive to see that.
Claudia: Thanks!
Claudia Was Surprised The Masked Singer Panelists Missed So Many Obvious Clues About Her
ScreenRant: The panelists thought you were so many different people. Rita had Nikki Blonsky and Ali Wong. Ken thought you were Maya Rudolph or Amy Schumer. Jenny had Aidy Bryant, and Robin said Whitney Cummings. What did you think of all those wrong guesses?
Claudia: You know what? It's so funny. Like when I watch the packages, I see how they thought that, but I feel like they kept going so hard in. like, traditional comedy route. Whereas there were so many other clues in my packages about virality and podcasts. And they didn't even take that into account. They just kept going like SNL comedy. And I'm like, "Girl, watch the package!"
ScreenRant: Right. I think we were all yelling at the screen.
Claudia: It was just, like, kind of rabbit holing on this one thing.
Claudia Has Always Loved To Sing
ScreenRant: Now, during the premiere, you said that you were new to singing live and performing live. So when did you discover that you could really sing?
Claudia: Oh, I was born singing. I had been torturing my sisters, singing at the top of my lungs since I could talk. I love to sing. I don't know when I realized that I had a good voice, but I just remember being a kid. You know, you sing for your parents' friends. And I remember people being really impressed by it, more so than my sisters. And I just got really hooked on impressing people in that way. And that's definitely the feeling that's always sort of resonated and stayed with me ... that like, I like being impressive, you know? It's a nice feeling!
ScreenRant: It had to feel good that you were just blowing everybody away with every performance because you did such a great job.
Claudia: People think they know me. And I love surprising people. I really do.
ScreenRant: You have a really fantastic singing voice. Have you ever considered Broadway?
Claudia: Here's the thing. I, of course, have considered Broadway. Has Broadway considered me? No. But one thing about Broadway that people don't [realize] ... it's very glamorous, right? But, it's, like, actually not. It's eight shows a week. It is very, very hard. I don't think I have the work ethic for it, if I'm being completely honest.
ScreenRant: Yeah, it's definitely challenging. They work really hard there. But, you definitely have the talent for it.
Claudia: Oh, thank you. Maybe like a one-woman show that I do once every two weeks. I could do that [laughs].
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Sources: The Masked Singer/YouTube, The Masked Singer/YouTube, The Masked Singer/YouTube, The Masked Singer/YouTube, The Masked Singer USA Recap/YouTube, The Singing Crane/YouTube
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