Kate Flannery Shares Why She Couldn't Say No to The Masked Singer & Dishes on Epic Office Reunion (Exclusive)
The Masked Singer was one opportunity Kate Flannery couldn't pass up, and we're glad she didn't! While The Office alum was unmasked Wednesday night after wowing the judges as the Starfish, her singing and dance moves did not disappoint, earning her praise from the entire panel. TooFab spoke to Flannery Thursday following her unmasking, where she shared why she just couldn't say no to TMS. "This show is a party, and if you invite me to a party, I will show up," Flannery quipped. Just a warning. For sure." Flannery first graced The Masked Singer during season 10, as a clue-giver with Lance Bass, but when she was asked to perform herself, she knew she had to do it. She continued, "When they asked me, I was like, 'Absolutely.' And then once I got in the costume, I thought, 'What have I gotten myself into?' 'Cause it was really hard to walk in." The Starfish costume was no joke, and while it had Flannery hopping around the stage, she said she truly had "fun" with it. "I was like, 'This is really fun. I kinda figured it out. You can't get overly exhausted because you still have to sing, but it was fun," Flannery shared. "The design of Starfish was so adorable, I just feel like she needed all that energy, all that jumping up and down." As far as who knew about her performance on the notoriously secretive singing competition series, Flannery said just her boyfriend, adding that it was especially hard to kept the news from her family, who she ended up spilling the beans ahead of Wednesday night's episode. "My boyfriend and one of my sisters," she revealed. "I'm gonna be honest with you, I feel like I have such a big mouth and when I told my one sister, she's like, 'Don't tell me this. I don't want to ruin it.' I come from a big family, and sometimes it's just better to keep your mouth shut. So, I called everybody right before the last episode started. The reaction was all positive, Flannery added, before doubling down on why she views opportunities like TMS and her time on Dancing With the Stars in 2019, as her "next chapter." "It was a great experience and I felt like it was a great personal triumph for me," she said of DWTS. "Because I didn't think I could do it. I felt like, 'I'm too old, it's over. Oh my gosh, I'm in my 50s. This is ridiculous.' But I'm here to tell ya, we count ourselves out too quickly in life, and if you can give yourself another chapter, you gotta do it." She continued, "Give yourself the opportunity... if other people shut you down, whatever, but don't shut yourself down. So I feel like Masked Singer was definitely part of that message for me being a late bloomer. That ship has not sailed, there's another boat coming, get on. Sail it." Flannery also spoke to TooFab on her latest Office reunion, which saw her team up with former co-stars, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Craig Robinson, Creed Bratton and Brian Baumgartner, for a series of hilarious commercials with AT&T. While the future of an Office reboot is uncertain, the 59-year-old funny woman, who played Meredith on the show, said getting to work with her old cubicle buddies again was "such a gift." "It was really fun. We have such a short hand, so getting to work together is such a gift. There were six of us from the show, and we were not playing our characters from The Office, it was just us, as ourselves, but it was really, really fun," Flannery shared. She continued, "We are a family after nine seasons. Either you never talk to the people again, and walk the other way when they're headed toward you, or you're a family, and luckily we had the latter. We are family. It's awesome." While seeing her the crew on-screen again gives fans hope that the cult classic series will return, Flannery said she hasn't heard anything a possible reboot, though she would be game -- if the story was right, of course. "I've not been told or asked about it," Flannery told TooFab. "I'm certainly not shutting it down if it happens. I would love to revisit Dunder Mifflin, but only if it's right." She continued, "I feel like we just had such a perfect ending to the show, and there's kind of a sacredness about what we did, and the fans really loved it -- I just feel like we don't want to ruin that cherry on the sundae. But I don't know, we'll see what the world has in store for us." The Masked Singer moves back to Group B for Girl Group Night next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
"I'm here to tell ya, we count ourselves out too quickly in life, and if you can give yourself another chapter, you gotta do it," Flannery said. "Give yourself the opportunity... don't shut yourself down."
The Masked Singer was one opportunity Kate Flannery couldn't pass up, and we're glad she didn't!
While The Office alum was unmasked Wednesday night after wowing the judges as the Starfish, her singing and dance moves did not disappoint, earning her praise from the entire panel.
TooFab spoke to Flannery Thursday following her unmasking, where she shared why she just couldn't say no to TMS.
"This show is a party, and if you invite me to a party, I will show up," Flannery quipped. Just a warning. For sure."
Flannery first graced The Masked Singer during season 10, as a clue-giver with Lance Bass, but when she was asked to perform herself, she knew she had to do it.
She continued, "When they asked me, I was like, 'Absolutely.' And then once I got in the costume, I thought, 'What have I gotten myself into?' 'Cause it was really hard to walk in."
The Starfish costume was no joke, and while it had Flannery hopping around the stage, she said she truly had "fun" with it.
"I was like, 'This is really fun. I kinda figured it out. You can't get overly exhausted because you still have to sing, but it was fun," Flannery shared. "The design of Starfish was so adorable, I just feel like she needed all that energy, all that jumping up and down."
As far as who knew about her performance on the notoriously secretive singing competition series, Flannery said just her boyfriend, adding that it was especially hard to kept the news from her family, who she ended up spilling the beans ahead of Wednesday night's episode.
"My boyfriend and one of my sisters," she revealed. "I'm gonna be honest with you, I feel like I have such a big mouth and when I told my one sister, she's like, 'Don't tell me this. I don't want to ruin it.' I come from a big family, and sometimes it's just better to keep your mouth shut. So, I called everybody right before the last episode started.
The reaction was all positive, Flannery added, before doubling down on why she views opportunities like TMS and her time on Dancing With the Stars in 2019, as her "next chapter."
"It was a great experience and I felt like it was a great personal triumph for me," she said of DWTS. "Because I didn't think I could do it. I felt like, 'I'm too old, it's over. Oh my gosh, I'm in my 50s. This is ridiculous.' But I'm here to tell ya, we count ourselves out too quickly in life, and if you can give yourself another chapter, you gotta do it."
She continued, "Give yourself the opportunity... if other people shut you down, whatever, but don't shut yourself down. So I feel like Masked Singer was definitely part of that message for me being a late bloomer. That ship has not sailed, there's another boat coming, get on. Sail it."
Flannery also spoke to TooFab on her latest Office reunion, which saw her team up with former co-stars, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Craig Robinson, Creed Bratton and Brian Baumgartner, for a series of hilarious commercials with AT&T.
While the future of an Office reboot is uncertain, the 59-year-old funny woman, who played Meredith on the show, said getting to work with her old cubicle buddies again was "such a gift."
"It was really fun. We have such a short hand, so getting to work together is such a gift. There were six of us from the show, and we were not playing our characters from The Office, it was just us, as ourselves, but it was really, really fun," Flannery shared.
Rainn Wilson Reunites 'The Office' Cast To Help Him Sell Pillows
She continued, "We are a family after nine seasons. Either you never talk to the people again, and walk the other way when they're headed toward you, or you're a family, and luckily we had the latter. We are family. It's awesome."
While seeing her the crew on-screen again gives fans hope that the cult classic series will return, Flannery said she hasn't heard anything a possible reboot, though she would be game -- if the story was right, of course.
"I've not been told or asked about it," Flannery told TooFab. "I'm certainly not shutting it down if it happens. I would love to revisit Dunder Mifflin, but only if it's right."
She continued, "I feel like we just had such a perfect ending to the show, and there's kind of a sacredness about what we did, and the fans really loved it -- I just feel like we don't want to ruin that cherry on the sundae. But I don't know, we'll see what the world has in store for us."
The Masked Singer moves back to Group B for Girl Group Night next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
