A former governor's appearance on 'The Masked Singer,' plus Nene Leakes is back on Bravo

The Masked Singer is one of those shows that feels like a fever dream. B and C-list celebrities dress up in elaborate costumes and sing, with clues about who they are scattered throughout the performance. The audience votes for their favorite, and the singer with the fewest votes is eliminated and "unmasked."

This is the first of many appearances from the Palins, specifically Sarah, on reality television that we're going to talk about in AK IRL (I promise I'll do my best to space them out). She had her own show on TLC called Sarah Palin's Alaska, she's been a guest on the rebooted Match Game, not to mention her daughter Bristol's show, Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp. Oh, and Bristol's two seasons on Dancing With the Stars.

Sarah's appearance on The Masked Singer felt even more so like a Nyquil-induced sleep coma – probably because her episode aired on March 11, 2020 – the same day COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.

Singing Sir-Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back (true story), Sarah dances around the stage in a psychedelic-colored fur suit (not to be mistaken with a furry suit) while two other bears pop it behind her. She reminds me of the sleep paralysis demon I see at the edge of my bed after accidentally taking too much NyQuil.

We get a few hints as to who this "mama bear" might be during the episode. In the package, there are ice skates and hockey pucks, and a calendar that says "live" on Saturday – which makes sense as to why judge Robin Thicke thinks it's Tina Fey. Others guesses are Christina Applegate, Candace Cameron Bure and Jodie Sweetin.

She isn't the first politician to appear on a reality competition series. We saw former Texas governor Rick Perry and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer participate in seasons 23 (2016) and 28 (2019). She was, at the time, the first to be on The Masked Singer. A few years later, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani competed on the program, which ended in judge Ken Jeong walking off stage.

In my life, I have been both hunter and hunted. But after years of hearing all the phony baloney, I'm sick of everyone not knowing who I really am. So this mama bear is coming out of hibernation. Maybe I've been a little polarizing, but just like a bear, it's all been to protect my cubs. Under this mask, I found the courage to come out of my cave, stop hiding and face the world head on. Now, tonight, I bear, exercise my right to a killer performance.

Okay, bear, it's time to show us who you really are.

The crowd starts changing "take it off" while Who Are You by The Who echoes in the distance. She pulls off the mask, and host Nick Cannon goes nuts.

Oh my god, wow, you guys you cannot believe... governor Sarah Palin!

You guys, seriously, what is this show?

Why the bear?

The bear is part of my nickname growing up, the whole mama bear thing, and they're in Alaska, there's bear in our front yard. So bear was easy.

Other celebs that beat out Sarah in the round were Hunter Hayes, JoJo Siwa, Bella Thorne, Barry Zito and Kandi Burress (Real Housewives of Atlanta mention!), who went on to win the season as Night Angel.

This is the weirdest thing I've ever done, that's for sure, but it's all about fun, it's unity. this is all good, this is what our country needs right now, too.

She only makes it through one performance before being axed (even though she performs the same song twice). Apparently, Sarah's encore is the longest performance out of any contestant's in the show's history. And man, did she know every single lyric.

The audience reaction to Sarah's reveal seems pretty split. Some fans of the show were shocked, others not so much.

I saw someone guess [her] on two different threads and get downvoted. A viewer shared on Reddit. Even with the hunting clues I didn’t think it would actually be her though.

(total watch time: 44 minutes, 12 seconds)

"The door is OPEN!"

I'm not trying to be dramatic, but Nene Leakes is coming back to Bravo this year, so maybe 2026 is going to be okay.

Okay, Vicki is coming back too. For those who don't know, Orange County is first in the Housewives universe, but Atlanta is what pushed Bravo into the big leagues. I have watched all of the franchises, except for Dallas and D.C. which were both axed. Atlanta is the best, and anyone who says differently is suspect. I guess the only other acceptable answer is old school Real Housewives of New York – but *not* the reboot.

Real Housewives Ultimate Road Trip is Bravo's new spinoff that Nene is going to be part of, but just during the Atlanta portion of the series. March 21 marks 20 years of Real Housewives being on TV.

The cast for RHURT includes: Teresa Giudice (New Jersey), Gizelle Bryant (Potomac), Luann de Lesseps (New York), Vicki Gunvalson (Orange County), Lisa Barlow (Salt Lake City), Kyle Richards (Beverly Hills) and Porsha Williams (Atlanta).

If you've never seen Housewives and aren't sure where to start, here's my list of franchises, ranked.

1. Atlanta
2. New York City
3. Salt Lake City
4. Beverly Hills
5. Miami
6. Potomac
7. Orange County
8. New Jersey

(total watch time: 63 days, 20 hours and 30 minutes)

How do I track total watch time?

If you've ever wondered where I'm pulling these numbers from, there are a number of websites that accumulate the total time of shows watched. I like to use Tiii – it adds up the number of seasons for the series, multiplies it by the number of episodes per season and the runtime of each episode to equal the total runtime for one show.

Watch parties in the turret

AK IRL's Discord has been giving me life lately. I've really enjoyed being able to host watch parties with friends without to getting off the couch. Each Thursday, we're watching the new episode of The Traitors at 6 p.m. AKST on Discord. Here's our watch schedule for the coming weeks.

Jan. 29: Episode 7

Feb. 5: Episode 8

Feb. 12: Episode 9

Feb. 19: Episode 10

Feb. 26: Episode 11 (season finale) & 12 (reunion)