How The Masked Singer Helped Oscar De La Hoya Feel Connected to His Late Mother (Exclusive)

TooFab spoke to the Olympic boxer ahead of his Fuzzy Peas unmasking Wednesday, where he shared what motivated him to say yes to the show, and how performing on TMS helped him feel connected to his late mother.

“First of all, I never thought about doing it. And so when Fox calls you and it’s like, you know, because I have my assistant, right? And she’s like, ‘Okay, you have this request, this, this here?’ And I was like, wait a minute, get back to The Masked Singer? Wait, The Masked Singer? The one on TV, the show? The one I love? I was like, ‘My gosh wait I’m gonna be behind the mask and nobody will know who I am and I can be silly and just make a fool of myself? I’m in! Let’s go!,” De La Hoya shared. “It was as the funniest thing ever. Oh my gosh. I do not regret doing this show whatsoever for a split second.”

He continued, “Turning into Fuzzy Peas is like, it was a dream come true to me because the faces had, like, three different personalities, right? And I was like, my God, that’s me. There’s one, like, that’s mischievous, one that’s always happy and laughing, you know, and the other one’s just a little sad. That’s totally me. So, I was like, my gosh, they hit this right on the nail’s head. I had such a good time.”

It was sill nerve-wracking for the boxing legend, who told TooFab he had butterflies in his stomach getting on stage, despite being a Grammy-nominated musician himself.

“I had little butterflies in my stomach, but, once the music turned on and you had to perform, I just let loose,” he said. “I was just being me.”

Being his authentic self also included melding his culture into his performance, with De La Hoya singing the hit Mexican folk song, “La Bamba,” by Ritchie Valens during the show’s Season 13 premiere.

“Because I do come from a musical background — my mother was a professional singer — and so I would sing with her like all the time. And it was funny because they present you the songs, and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, wait, I sing this karaoke song all the time.’ ‘La Bamba’ was like, it’s my forte. So I was extremely, extremely happy and relieved that I could sing that song because I kind of knew it,” he explained. “But it makes you proud. It just makes you proud that you can showcase, you can sing, in your language.”

“Spanish for me was … growing up in my household, every single day, my parents would speak Spanish all the time. I just felt proud. I felt proud that I can do that, then sing a song that the world identifies with,” De La Hoya continued, gushing over the sentimental moment. “‘La Bamba’ was universal. It made me feel proud. It made me feel happy. I was just giddy, man. Fuzzy Peas was just … he will always be in my heart.”

While De La Hoya does come from a singing background, he hasn’t put out music since his self-titled album in 2000. Despite the 25-year-gap, getting back on stage for the longtime athlete was very much like riding a bike.

“I felt pretty confident with doing it again and singing. It’s almost like riding a bicycle, right? It’s like you never forget. You just have to vocalize a few days, a few times,” he explained. “And you have to take it serious. I mean, a lot of people think that, ‘OK, this is a fun show. And it’s like you have celebrities who are out of their element and they’re not going to take it serious. No. I swear I was in vocal lessons like every single day, twice a day. I would do the whole tea with honey and gargle like salt and water. And I was going through the whole shebang. I took this serious.”

“I mean, obviously, I do have some competition in me,” he quipped. “But I reminded myself, like, ‘Yeah, it’s competition, but you’re not going to win this, dude. Like, don’t even think you’re going to win this.’ Because I’m telling you, backstage, you can hear all the participants, like, vocalizing. And I’m like, wait, ‘Oh, my God. What am I doing here? I thought I just heard, like, Celine Dion over there.'”

And though it very much was a lighthearted experience for De La Hoya, it also connected him to his late mother, who died ahead of his 1992 gold medal win at the Barcelona Olympics. While boxing is very much his first love, singing is something De La Hoya said he holds “the closest to his heart.”

“My mother passed away from breast cancer when I was like 17 years old. And so I have this special little thing in my heart with my mom, singing with her because I would after school, I would hear her sing at home, like cleaning the house, in our neighborhood, sweeping the floors and all that,” De La Hoya recalled. “And she would be singing with that like, she had this angelic voice. I would be like six, seven, eight years old coming home from school and singing with her and practicing, not practicing, but just singing with her. So I think that those moments will always be the most special.”

He continued, “And when she passed away from breast cancer, I literally went off to the Olympics to Barcelona in 1992 and won the gold medal for her. So obviously the gold medal and the singing is like dear, dear, the closest to my heart. So when they told me you’re going to do the Masked Singer, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a way to connect with her, to just hold those special memories in my heart forever.”

The Masked Singer may also have given De La Hoya the singing bug again, with his experience on the show inspiring him to maybe remix a few of the tracks from his bilingual debut album, Oscar De La Hoya.

“I did get an idea, actually, because the album that I did back in the day… I own it. Like, I own the masters. And so I’m thinking to myself –because there’s some great songs out there on the album. If maybe I can call, like, a Steve Aoki or somebody, you know, and they can, like, remix some songs, some club mixes. I think that would be pretty cool.”

And while he felt comfortable stepping on stage and singing again, getting back into the boxing ring is another story, with the 52-year-old telling TooFab it would be pretty tough to convince him to come out of retirement.

“You know what? I am so happy. I am so content with what I did. I’m just satisfied. I’m good where I’m at. I try to wake up early in the morning and try to do some exercise, and my body is in pain the next day,” De La Hoya, who hung up his gloves back in 2008, shared. “I’m good where I’m at.”

The Masked Singer continues next Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox.