It’s hard to believe that five celebrities have already been eliminated from the twelfth season of “The Masked Singer.” The final exit was Dust Bunny, who turned out to be a funny man Andy Richter on the October 16 episode. One of his competitors that evening was Chess Piece, who thrilled the audience with a cover version of “Chess Piece”. Cher classic “Believe”. We believe we know the true identity of the chess piece. Read on for all your The Masked Singer spoilers, including the answer to the question “Who is the chess piece?”

We re-watched her performance and the clue package and think “Chess Piece” is the real deal Jinkx Monsoona two-time winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” We have to admit that this is more of a guess than we usually like to make. (Update: We have a new theory, which you can find at the end of this post.)

In the clue package, we saw a costume display featuring four former contestants from “The Masked Singer”: Goldfish (Vanessa Hudgens), night angel (Kandi Burress), Queen of Hearts (jewel) and sun (LeAnn Rimes). These women have been guest judges on various versions of “Drag Race.” And the flared red lips are part of Jinkx’s signature look.

Jinkx has spoken eloquently about her years of self-confidence struggles. This aligns with Chess Piece’s admission: “People have doubted me my whole life, but I had to believe in myself and take bold steps across the board to secure my crown and the leadership role that is my Game changed.” Jinkx first rose to fame in 2013 as the winner of the fifth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

The fact that the ambassador is Nikki Glaser (who appeared as Snowstorm in Season 8) gives us a little more confidence in our theory. Finally, Nikki was a guest judge on the seventh season of “Drag Race All Stars,” which was won by Jinkx in 2022.

The last two years have been a whirlwind for Jinkx. They starred on Broadway (“Chicago”) and off (“Little Shop of Horrors”) and had a memorable guest appearance in “Doctor Who.” It’s a bit of a stretch, but we think the Sports Night reference with green tennis shoes could be a connection to Little Shop. Audrey, played by Jinkx, has a breathtaking number: “Somewhere That’s Green.”

Update: There is speculation that this may be the case Billy Porter or Laverne Cox but we believe another possibility is the R&B singer Tinashe.

Tinashe and Nikki did “Dancing with the Stars” together in 2018; Nikki was the first celebrity to be eliminated, while Tinashe made it to Week 4.

Nikki mentioned that Chess Piece was “modern”; Tinashe was a frequent guest on Fashion Police.

Vanessa and Tinashe joined “Rent” live on TV in 2019; Kandi called Normani, Chloeand Tinashe her dream girl group; and Tinashe had just performed at the Jewel nightclub in Las Vegas.

The red lips reminded us of a talk show host Wendy Williamswho lambasted Tinashe in a scathing editorial about colorism.

And the tennis shoes could be a throwback to Tinashe’s appearance on the Sneaker Shopping podcast in 2017, where she talked about her love for Jordans.

We won’t find out whether we’re right about the chess piece being Jinkx Monsoon or Tinashe until she’s unmasked. This is what will happen if she loses a vote or wins the show. Do you think we are right about the true identity of the chess piece? Give your best guesses in the comments section.

“The Masked Singer” spoilers
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