TV The Masked Singer season 6 premiere sends Mother Nature and Octopus home — but there's a twist Plus, what to expect from Thursday's episode of the special two-night season 6 debut. By Lauren Huff Lauren Huff Lauren Huff is a writer at Entertainment Weekly with over a decade of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry. After graduating with honors from the University of Texas at Austin (Hook 'em, Horns!), Lauren wrote about film, television, awards season, music, and more for the likes of The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline Hollywood, Us Weekly, Awards Circuit, and others before landing at EW in May 2019. EW's editorial guidelines Published on September 22, 2021 09:00PM EDT Warning: This article contains spoilers about The Masked Singer season 6 premiere. Season 6 of The Masked Singer has just begun, and already it's full of surprises. The first episode introduced us to the divalicious Skunk, the impossibly tall Octopus, the bubbly Pufferfish, the either incredibly beautiful or incredibly nightmarish Mother Nature, and the born-to-perform Bull. Mother Nature and Octopus perform in the season 6 premiere of 'The Masked Singer.'. Michael Becker/FOX (2) There wasn't a clunker in the bunch, and all of the performances were enhanced by bigger and better sets, lighting, and choreography than the show has had in the last few COVID-affected seasons. Plus, the audience — and all of their absolutely bonkers reactions — are back! Even still, someone had to go home, or rather two someones, as host Nick Cannon revealed at the top of the episode. First up was Octopus, who sang a fun rendition of "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to send the giant purple pimp cephalopod on to the next round, and he was unmasked to reveal NBA player Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers. Not surprisingly, panelist Ken Jeong continued his streak of correctly guessing basketball players. Jeong's first impression guess was in fact Dwight Howard, so he gets a point for the Golden Ear Trophy this season. Nicole Scherzinger guessed Shaquille O'Neal (really?!), Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg wrote down Dennis Rodman, and Robin Thicke guessed 76ers player Joel Embiid. Nick Cannon and Dwight Howard on 'The Masked Singer'. Michael Becker/FOX After his reveal, Howard said he did the show for his mom, because it's her favorite show. He apparently brought her to set, and when she realized where they were, he said she cried and screamed, "You're on The Masked Singer — oh my god!!" He capped off the touching moment by telling the panelists he loved his time on the show and "would have stayed there all summer" if he could. In the episode's final moments, it was revealed that Mother Nature was the second contestant to be eliminated, but in a surprise twist, she wasn't actually unmasked tonight. We'll have to tune in tomorrow for night two of the season 6 doubleheader premiere for that reveal. Plus, two new Wildcard contestants will be introduced. Be sure to tune in for that on Fox at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Thursday. Check out our daily must-see picks — plus news, celeb interviews, trivia, and more — in EW's What to Watchpodcast. Related content: The complete list of clues for every The Masked Singer season 6 contestant The Masked Singer season 6 to introduce shocking new elimination twist Everything we know so far about The Masked Singer season 6