While his cover of a Poison classic brought the panel to tears, The Orca still ended up having to unmask.
The Masked Singer returned for the sixth week of season 5 on Wednesday, and after some fun performances from the remaining contestants in Group A, fans had to bid farewell to The Orca -- who turned out to be none other than rocker Mark McGrath!
ET's Lauren Zima spoke with McGrath on Thursday, after his elimination, and the musician opened up about his experience on the show, and how good it felt to be a part of it.
"The Masked Singer's so beautiful! They uplift you in every way, and there's just some magical fairy dust that they only know how to sprinkle," McGrath explained. "Really, truly it's amazing."
"It's no secret why show is No. 1 [on TV]. They just put so much heart and soul into it," he added. "And yes, it's a singing competition, but it's more of an experience. An experience for us and an experience for the audience."
During Wednesday's show, fans were introduced to the season's final wildcard -- who ended up really shaking up the game!
After The Russian Dolls, The Seashell, Robopine and The Orca all hit the stage with impressive performances, the wildcard character, The Yeti, raised the bar to a whole new level and threw everyone else in the group into jeopardy.
Only four contestants could move on, and after all the votes were cast and counted, it was The Orca who ended up getting eliminated.
After the show's panel of celebrity "detectives" -- Robin Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, and Jenny McCarthy -- made their final guesses, (all of which were way off), The Orca unmasked and revealed himself to be the Sugar Ray frontman, much to everyone's surprise.
McGrath previously spoke to ET on Wednesday, explained why he wasn't surprised about the outcome.
"I did The Masked Singer because it scared the hell out of me," McGrath explained. "Now, the irony is that I make my living as a singer, but no one's really ever called me a 'singer,' I'm really an entertainer.... No one's ever gonna confuse my voice for Chris Cornell or Chris Martin, or Chris Robinson. Or any Chris you wanna throw out there. I've always gotten by on tone."
"At this level on The Masked Singer, you really have to be a really technically good singer," he added. "You're dealing with some world-class singers on this show, so I was surprised to even get this far."
The Orca's elimination came as quite a surprise, considering his rendition of Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was one of the night's most emotional moments.
The performance came after a particularly emotional clue package in which McGrath -- still concealed in The Orca costume -- got candid about how his father died shortly after his twins were born.
"I always looked up to my dad, and when I told him I was gonna be a dad, it brought him so much joy!" The Orca revealed in his clue package. "Even though his health was deteriorating, he became laser-focused on the baby's baptism... He hung on, just long enough to see the ceremony. Days later, he passed, and I felt rudderless in an ocean of tears."
"I'll never forget his last words. He said he was proud of me for being a dad, above all else. And it brings me so much joy to know his spirit will live on for generations," The Orca added.
McGrath opened up to ET about his late father as well, sharing, "I was so glad my dad got to see me become a father, because I don't think he thought I was ever going to be. I waited until I was 42 to be a father... and seeing him hold the twins in his hands, I mean, I'd done a few things in my life, but he goes, 'I am most proud of you for being an amazing dad.' And that's the takeaway I'll always have."
McGrath and his wife, Carin Kingsland, share 10-year-old twins -- son Lydon and daughter Hartley -- and the rocker said he was thankful to the show for creating something he could share with his kids that honored their grandfather.
"What's so amazing about The Masked Singer is that they do a lot of digging into your life to create these wonderful packages," he shared. "It's a real testament to how great the show is, in all departments... and I am so grateful to have this documentation, for my twins, for the rest of their lives.'
"They were just babies, they don't remember my dad, but they will know how much they meant to my dad thanks to this package created by The Masked Singer," he added. "You win just by competing on this show, because they just have such a wonderful way of making everybody look great."
McGrath also admitted that he didn't even know the clue package dealt so substantially with the loss of his father when he came out to sing.
"I didn't see the package before I performed, and I don't know if I would have been able to," McGrath admitted. "When I saw it later, I was just like, 'Oh my god, wow.'"
Thicke was particularly moved by the performance, and the singer's touching story, considering the singer lost his own father, Alan Thicke, unexpectedly in December 2016.
"I lost my father a few years ago," Thicke shared, after the performance. "He was my hero, my idol, so I totally connect with your story and I hear what you're trying to say with that song... [it was a] really heartfelt and beautiful performance."
For McGrath, one surprising outcome is how connected he became to his character after such a short amount of time.
"I actually felt bad for The Orca!" he said of his elimination. "You get so attached to these masks and these costumes, and I felt like I let The Orca down. And I almost got emotional taking the mask off [during the reveal] because I knew that was the last time there was gonna be a heartbeat in there."
While fans had to say goodbye to McGrath's Orca, The Seashell, Robopine, The Russian Dolls and the newcomer, The Yeti, are all moving on to the Super 8, alongside The Black Swan, The Crab, The Chameleon and The Piglet!
If you're trying to crack the mystery of the costumed contestants like the rest of America, check out our running list of spoilers, hints and best guesses, where we break down all the clue packages and make wild (surprisingly accurate) predictions about the singers' secret identities.
Check out the video below to hear more about the wild and unexpected unmaskings that have already rocked the fifth season of The Masked Singer.
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox. For more on this exciting season, check out the video below!
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