It made perfect sense thatJoey Lawrencemade hisMasked Singerdebut on ’90s Night.
He rose to fame on ’90s shows likeBlossomandBrotherly Love, which he starred on with real-life younger brothersMatthewandAndrew, and found himself with a loyal following.
“The ’90s were insane,” Lawrence, 46, tells PEOPLE. “I mean, 20,000 people were showing up for an autograph signing for me at a mall. That was pretty crazy.”
His cover ofSpin Doctors' “Two Princes” as Walrus on the latest episode of the Fox singing competition unfortunately earned him the least amount of votes and resulted in him unmasking first. But Lawrence says his time onThe Masked Singermarks just the beginning of his partnership with Fox. After starring inSwimon Fox’s streaming service Tubi, he’ll appear alongside wifeSamantha CopeinFrankie Meets Jackon the streamer in February.
Barry King/Getty, Michael Becker/FOX
“And believe it or not, we’re in talks with Fox about the brothers and I on a brand-new show together for the first time in 15 years,” Lawrence says. “I’ve been doing this 41 years and had a lot of success at NBC and ABC and CBS. Never worked for Fox, so it seemed like a logical step.”
The actor talks working with his brothers, navigating as Walrus and incorporating music more into his career going forward.
PEOPLE: Why did you decide to go onThe Masked Singer? Are your daughters Charleston, 16, and Liberty, 12, fans of the show?JOEY LAWRENCE:Yeah. My girls are a fan of the show It, but it’s not really the reason why. I’ve been a guess on that show for four years. We’ve been trying to figure out the right time for me to go on. We finally found the right time where I was available, and it made sense to go on there and have some fun for an episode.
What was it like performing as Walrus?Obviously, I’ve performed before and sold records and things like that, but I hadn’t performed live in probably about 14 years. And to do it like that was crazy. You can’t really see or hear or move, so it makes the performance extremely difficult. It was not fun. It was like, wow, this is challenging. It’s not just going out there and performing.
Michael Becker/FOX
Do you have plans to release more music going forward?I would love to. The music industry’s changed so much, but I’m always working on music. I released about four or five singles over the last year. I’ve had a lot of success doing that, but just haven’t done it recently on a grand scale. I don’t know where the music thing is going to go again. The brothers and I released a single under our group name, which did really well and we’re working on another few songs now that we’re going to release next year. We really do it just because we love it.What do you still love about working with your brothers after all these years?We have been working together more and more last few years. We did a Christmas movie for Amazon calledMistletoe Mixupand we’re shooting a sequel to that right now, which will be out next Christmas for Amazon. We took a little break from doing that. And now, as grown men we’re like, “Let’s do this. Let’s have some fun.” It just felt like the right time. I think the fans have really been driving it.They’ve been begging us to do stuff together, and it’s really neat to come back together and do this again. We’re really excited about the show. We’re really looking forward to it.
Did your brothers know you were doingThe Masked Singer?My brothers knew. My wife knew, and that’s it. Didn’t tell my kids because they have loose lips and they talk to their friends, but the brothers are vaults and my wife is a vault.
Are your daughters familiar with a lot of your work at this point?They don’t really care, which is kind of cool. I think I’d like them to care a little more, just because it would make me feel better about myself. I’m just kidding! But I think this next wave of projects is really going to change that a lot with them. I did put my career a little bit on the back burner when they were young, just being a dad and soaking that up as much as I could. But it’s so interesting because there’s much different perspective about it now. Last time [I welcomed a child] I was 29, so to be 46 and doing it again, I know now that working is very important and that you have to keep that going. You could have your bonding moments, but there’s a lot of work to be done if I want to be able to provide the way I want to provide.
RELATED VIDEO: Hayley Orrantia Compares Her Time onMasked SingertoX Factor: ‘It’s Surreal’
Speaking of supporting family, how have you been supporting your brother Matthew amidhis divorce from Cheryl Burke?Life is such an up-and-down journey. The best way that you can be there for somebody is to just let them know that no matter what, you’re there for them.
Absolutely. Revisiting the ’90s onThe Masked Singer, how do you reflect on that period that you and your brothers entered the spotlight in a major way?I look back on it fondly. Those fans are still there. They’re just in their mid-30s now. It’s been a crazy trajectory. You go through ups and downs, but 41 years later and having the kind of opportunities and still having a lot of room to grow and a lot of things that I have yet to accomplish, and I’m really driven to get there. It’s been a long journey, but hopefully it’s half over maybe. We’ll see.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The Masked Singerairs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
source: people.com
