Former Springbok Breyton Paulse unmasked as Monster on Masked Singer SA

The Masked Singer South Africa Season 2’s cute fluffy Monster was unmasked as a man who ran circles around his opponents on the rugby field – the legendary Springbok wing and sports commentator Breyton Paulse.

During his top-flight career, rugby fans knew they could expect at least one try when this speedster played in the green and gold or provincial colours.

Hence, it came as no surprise that “machine”, as Breyton was referred to fondly, could sidestep The Masked Singer South Africa’s detective panel in the guise of Monster.

But in the spectacular sixth episode of the crazy singing competition, where the country’s biggest stars try to stay anonymous, Monster met his match in guest detective Kurt Darren, also known as Season 1’s runner-up, Rhino.

While detectives J’Something, Somizi Mhlongo and Sithelo Shozi caught wind of Monster being a famous rugby player, sleuth Skhumba Hlophe was convinced that the adorable furry creature was a comedian.

None of them paid attention when Kurt tackled Monster and identified him as Breyton Paulse.

Perhaps Monster’s clues in an earlier episode confused the foursome of investigators on duty each week, hindering all the puzzle pieces from falling in place.

J’Something, Somizi, Sithelo and Skhumba previously learnt that Monster’s career path was a life-long project, with the highest point arriving early.

Monster was also a High School head boy who would never forget the day he received his matric results.

He also sported a badge in the shape of a plane and wings on his shoulders and held Red Bulls in his hands.

So Sithelo started the second round of mystery-solving, during which the Top 12 Masked Singers were whittled down to the Top 10, assuming that Monster was Siya Kolisi.

After all, our current national team captain is a great leader who is competitive and hard-working, and there was an image of Siya Kolisi on the energy drink cans.

However, J’Something and Somizi’s previous rugby player guesses were Damian Willemse and Kobus Wiese.

Meanwhile, the popping pink, yellow, and blue of Monster’s colourful costume sent Skhumba in the direction of someone not afraid to wear outrageous outfits, prankster Leon Schuster.

With guest detective Kurt Darren at their side, Monster presented an intriguing new clue package to the show’s sleuths before his lively on-stage performance of “Take Me On” by A-ha.

This time, Monster worked tirelessly at a construction site, passing bricks to The Masked Singer’s wacky “Men and Women in Black”.

With that, Monster explained, “I always finish what I started. That means more to me than physical strength”.

He also let slip that he has been called “a machine” and always gets the job done.

Furthermore, the adorable furball bragged, “My humour is top-class. I respect people who can make you laugh and forget for a moment.”

Guest detective Kurt, who spotted a rugby ball alongside the bricks, immediately knew which industry birthed this Monster.

Using all his bloodhound senses, the intermittent French-style music in the insert then led Kurt to somebody who played some rugby at an overseas club but returned to the Bok team.

So, it all added up to one name: Breyton Paulse.

However, Skhumba focused on how Monster highlighted humour in the clue package.

He gathered Monster was someone playful and strict at the same time, like Kenneth Nkosi, who worked with Leon Schuster for quite some time.

More comedians on Skhumba’s list of culprits were Casper de Vries and Robert Whitehead

In locking in their votes before the next Mask’s performance, Kurt surprisingly changed his guess to Kwagga Smith.

On the contrary, J’Something went with the person he named since the start of the competition, Damian Willemse and Skhumba followed suit, reverting to Leon Schuster.

Sithelo echoed J’Something in choosing Damian Willemse, while Somizi, who has fallen head over heels in love with the huggable character, believed his Monster crush was Faf de Klerk.

At the end of the episode’s three face-offs, Monster found himself in the danger zone alongside Boombox and Ice Cream.

Of course, Somizi immediately wanted to save Monster, but after much consideration, the detectives agreed that Boombox could sing another day.

Thereafter, the audience, voting for Monster or Ice Cream, preferred to keep the sweetest of masks in the game.

That meant it was time for the detectives to make their final verdict. Guest detective Kurt changed his mind, going with the name that popped up for him first: Breyton Paulse.

Not being swayed by Kurt, Somizi reverted to Kwagga Smith while J’Something and Sithelo stuck to Damian Willemse.

Skhumba continued to put his weight behind Leon Schuster.

Maybe next time the detectives should listen to someone who had donned a Masked Singer costume before!

“Being Monster on The Masked Singer was loads of fun and an interesting experience,” Breyton said.

“The detectives’ comments and guesses made me laugh, and I was impressed by how insanely secretive everything behind the scenes was. Kudos to everybody who is part of the show. It was a fantastic journey.”

The Masked Singer South Africa Season 2, proudly sponsored by AndolexÒ, is screened on S3 on Saturdays at 18:30.

The rebroadcasts are on SABC 1 on Thursdays at 21:00 and S3 on Fridays at 18:00.