‘The Masked Singer’: Paparazzo Definitely Thinks a Certain ‘Boy Meets World’ Scene Helped Him

Spoilers ahead for “The Masked Singer” and Paparazzo’s identity

Matthew Lawrence has never really been known to sing or dance in his work, but if you were a fan of “Boy Meets World,” you might remember an episode where he definitely did a major choreographed performance. And according to the actor, it might’ve helped him on “The Masked Singer.”

Indeed, Lawrence was eliminated from the Fox singing competition on Wednesday night, and revealed to be the voice under the Paparazzo mask. It makes him the second Lawrence brother to compete on the show, after his brother Joey Lawrence was revealed as Walrus back in season 8.

Looking back on his career, Matthew Lawrence concedes that there have never been many songs or dances for him — intentionally so. But, when asked if performing a dance to Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” with the men of “Boy Meets World” back in the day might’ve helped prepared him for this, he definitely thinks it’s a possibility.

“That’s a really good callback. And I think you’re right about that,” he admitted to TheWrap with a laugh. “I think that did have some sort of help here, yeah.”

Speaking more seriously, Lawrence admits that the reason he’s avoided any kind of musical performance is because he’s long dealt with intense stage fright. That’s why, when he first got the call for “The Masked Singer,” his knee-jerk reaction was to “run in the other direction.” But, he forced himself to be brave.

“I’ve made a commitment to myself that this is a season of my life where there’s no fear, and I’m not saying no to things,” he explained. “I’ve said no a lot of my life. I’ve really steered away, especially from singing, because it’s kind of a fear I have, on stage, to sing. So, this was one of those ‘Do you want to jump out of a plane?’ type of an experiences for me. And it was one of those bucket lists, like, let’s get it over this fear kind of thing.”

According to Lawrence, the last time he really performed musically was when he was four years old, and he and his brother Joey were tapped as the entertainment for NBC’s Upfront presentation. He’s had plenty of opportunities since then, but a truly horrendous audition for the stage adaptation of “Cry-Baby,” in which he was up for the lead role, was the moment that eventually caused him to turn those opportunities down.

“I was in first position, they flew me out. And for Broadway, they don’t do this kind of stuff,” he recalled. “They flew me out, put me up, and I bomb. I mean, stage fright, throat closed up. And I’m in front of — when I say, like, really, they packed the audience.”

“They packed the audience with, like — OK, so David Letterman was taping, right? And so David Letterman and all the people, all the guests he was having on that night, like Alec [Baldwin] — all these really recognizable faces!” he continued. “And I bomb, dude. Bombed. Like, ran off stage bombed. So that was like, ‘I’m never singing in front of people ever again.'”

Now, Lawrence doesn’t think he’ll be bragging too much about making it to the final six on “The Masked Singer,” but knowing that he can sing and dance in front of people — in a giant head shaped like a camera, no less — means he’s certainly more open to future opportunities on stage.

“Absolutely. You know, it was a lot of it was a lot of soul searching,” he said with a laugh. “It sounds so crazy for ‘The Masked Singer,’ but it’s true! It was a lot of soul searching, and a lot of getting over this fear, and now I kind of caught the bug a little bit. So absolutely, I would definitely say yes to these opportunities if they came my way.”

“The Masked Singer” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

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