Should We Consider Niall Horan & Adam Lambert For The Masked Singer’s Turtle?

If you are like me, you are in disbelief every week you watch TV's wildest singing show and hear the panel fail to guess Jesse McCartney is the Masked Singer Turtle. His identity seems so obvious, but the panel has been stuck on the idea that Turtle is a former boyband member (which he technically is) since the beginning. This week, they added strong cases for New Kids on The Block alum Joey McIntyre, Adam Lambert, and Niall Horan. But I call BS.

However, to entertain the almost zero percent chance that anyone besides McCartney is nailing that falsetto, let’s try to understand the panel’s theories and see how the clues point to someone else being inside the Masked Singer's Turtle costume. Thankfully, this week each contestant provided the audience and panel with a suitcase full of clues. Let’s look at each clue and see why they do (or do not) work for another male vocalist. 

Figuring out what exactly this clue was supposed to mean was probably more difficult than deciding who it points to. This “passport” was actually a blue moleskine-style notebook with an elastic strap around it. However, the panel called it a passport because of the crown logo it had on it. The crown led panelist Jenny McCarthy to think the crown was a reference to the Queen of England. She then theorized that the Queen could refer to the band Queen and Adam Lambert. He has toured with Queen for years as the band’s frontman. Also, after the Turtle presented the clues in his bag, he said, “What should be easy is figuring out these clues, so take it slow like a turtle and I promise they’ll all fit like a glove," which appeared to explain the baseball glove.

That detail means McCarthy’s idea isn’t completely farfetched. Lambert does typically perform wearing gloves. He also has a connection to the Queen. But, Lambert has a very distinct and powerful voice. He can hit unthinkable high notes that the Turtle hasn’t sung yet. I doubt he would wait this far into the competition to show off his vocals.

Guest panelist and ridiculously funny actress Yvette Nicole Brown was solely focused on this clue. She thought the awkwardly phrased luggage tag doubled as the acronym NKOTB, aka the ‘80s pop boy band New Kids On The Block. She then suggested member Joey McIntyre was the Turtle. Sadly, I think she fell for the obvious misdirect.

The panel has been guessing different boy band members for weeks. The Masked Singer writers definitely put this clue in the package to make the panel focus on one of the only boy bands left they haven’t considered. The clues on this show are not that direct, people. Further proof? McIntyre is married and has three children. If a contestant has children, they are usually mentioned by now. Turtle has not spoken about a wife or kids, making it unlikely that he has either. 

Okay, this is by far panelist Ken Jeong’s most improbable suggestion for the Turtle’s identity. One of the luggage tags had an arrow point to the left which made McCarthy throw out One Direction. Jeong said the British journal could refer to Niall Horan. Oh, Ken. Horan is not British; he is Irish. Horan also has a pretty successful solo music career and performed recently on Saturday Night Live (likely around the time when this season of The Masked Singer was filmed), so I highly doubt he was also on this show. 

All the remaining clues that were shown this week for the Turtle support our theory that McCartney is the Turtle. Before the Turtle performed James Bay’s “Let It Go,” he spoke to the Astronaut and they said they were “mirrors of each other” because they make ladies swoon and sing “emotional anthems of love.” McCartney was known as a teen heartthrob back in the day after the release of his song “Beautiful Soul,” which definitely qualifies as an “emotional anthem of love.” 

The other items included in Turtle’s suitcase were a gavel, perfume bottle, and baseball mitt. McCartney also dabbles in acting. His first role was on Law & Order, hence the gavel. He also had a perfume line. Lastly, according to McCartney’s IMDb page, he does have a love of baseball and he played on his high school team.

These clues weren’t clear signs (his voice is the biggest tell so far), but they help prove McCartney is the Turtle.