Billy Bush Reveals He Had a ‘Panic Attack’ Before Stepping Onto The Masked Singer Stage (Exclusive)

While singing is something he’s been known to do around the halls of Extra TV, taking his talents to the big stage took things up a notch. Bush spoke to TooFab Thursday after he was unmasked on this week’s show, where he dished on his experience and shared why he’s glad he did something that scared him.

“I’ve always had a little set of jazz hands going, and I was in the spring musical in high school, Guys and Dolls, I sang in the choir. My father had a barbershop quartet with his buddies called the ‘Long Island Sound,’ he was in that group till he died, so we’ve always been singers,” Bush shared. “I sing in the hallways like crazy, and I think a couple of the producers started filming me a little bit and sent it to The Masked Singer and said, ‘Take him off our hands.'”

Bush shook things up on Wednesday night’s show as the wild card, performing TV theme songs under the mask of Sir Lion.

“I think it was perfect,” he said when asked about coming in as the wild card. “A one-and-done was perfect for me. You come in, you shake up the night, you do your thing and you’re out of there. It was awesome. I don’t know if I could’ve gone much further, but it was great.”

He admittedly had a panic attack before stepping onto the stage, however, telling TooFab that the costume — a heavy and ornate Bridgerton-inspired suit complete with a lions head — carried a weight with it that the longtime entertainment journalist was not expecting.

“I had a real panic attack, like the first time I went out in the suit. I had to think and I had to look up into a certain spot into the helmet that I would see, and focus on that to calm down,” Bush shared. “And the slit to see is so small, it’s very disorienting. Anyone who tries any major dance moves — it’s really scary.”

He continued, “But once I did a couple dress rehearsals, I felt comfortable enough to nail it. To do it.”

While it was a one-and-done kind of experience for Bush, he said he’s glad he did it, and told TooFab that he learned an important lesson about himself in the process.”

“That I still have the fire of a young man,” Bush said of what he learned. “I’m still a go for it guy, and I don’t ever want to change. I’m not afraid to swing, and that was a fast ball and I swung at it. And I guess that’s it, you’re still unafraid to take chances.”

As for who he’d like to see grace The Masked Singer stage next, Bush said he wouldn’t mind a little more representation from the entertainment journalism community, and seconded our suggestion that TMZ‘s own Harvey Levin would make the perfect contestant.

“Definitely,” he said when asked if he would encourage his colleagues to try their hand at the show. “I would encourage anyone to step out of their comfort zone. That’s definitely out of my comfort zone, to perform like that in front of people. No one’s seen me do that kind of thing, but that’s exactly the reason to do it. It’s incredibly exhilarating, and it gets you out of your routine. Do it.”

Bush continued, “I’d love to see Harvey. Especially Harvey. Get in there. Harvey — he’s incredible. He’s so fit.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Bush dished on some of entertainment news’ biggest headlines, including the scandal surrounding Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is currently under investigation for crimes including sex trafficking, sexual assault, and soliciting and distributing illegal narcotics and firearms.

While Bush, who has interviewed the music mogul many times over the last twenty years, said the initial report was surprising, there’s little that truly shocks him these days.

“No,” Bush said if he’s shocked by some of today’s craziest headlines.

“…I never imagined some of the allegations we’re hearing now, I didn’t know anything about that,” Bush added of Diddy. “But, yeah it’s a little surprising, but not jaw-dropping.”

Hear what else he has to say about Diddy in the video below.

The Masked Singer returns next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.