Ruth Pointer Says Late Sister Bonnie 'Would Have Loved' to Appear on 'The Masked Singer' Too

The Pointer Sisters member performed as Cupcake on season 6 of the Fox reality competition

Ruth Pointer as Cupcake. Photo: FOX; John Medina/Getty Images

Cupcake didn't achieve sweet victory on season 6 of The Masked Singer, but Ruth Pointer — the Grammy winner underneath the confection — still considers her time on the show sprinkled with good memories.

"It's a wonderful experience and I think I may have made a few friends that probably will remain friends," Pointer, 75, tells PEOPLE.

The Pointer Sisters member took her mask off on Wednesday after performing "Finesse" by Bruno Mars. "We [The Pointer Sisters] come from a completely different musical era — '70s and '80s — and I thought that it might help to stir up a little more suspense by me picking a song like that," she says. "I'm a big fan of his. I love him and love his music so much, so it was really a pleasure for me to do the song."

Pointer originally planned to be on the Masked Singer stage with her sister and bandmate Anita, but the 73-year-old's health didn't allow her to participate. Still, Pointer says her younger sister "was just cheering me on" from the sidelines throughout the season, and they watched Pointer's big reveal together on Wednesday night.

"She was so happy that I continued on," the "Jump (For My Love) singer says. "I felt like I was doing it in honor of her."

Pointer talks about baking inside the Cupcake outfit, making her late sister Bonnie proud and being happy with her place in life.

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Why did you decide on Cupcake?
Well, [the producers] actually picked it for us. Me and my sister, Anita, were going to be two cupcakes. We just thought it was adorable and sweet.

You've been performing for years — how did it compare taking the stage in a heavy costume?
I'm like, girl, if you can sing with this box on your head then you can do anything. It really, really took a lot of courage and focus, and it gave me another level of confidence going forward.

FOX

Were you laughing under the costume about any of the guesses, like Jackée Harry and Tina Knowles-Lawson, that you were getting from the judges?
Of course I was. I loved their guesses. I was like, "Okay you guys." But I also felt honored that they thought I was those people. What a nice group of people to be associated with!

Did it surprise you that panelist Nicole Scherzinger ended up nailing your identity right before your reveal?
I was not because she had been a member of a girl group. I thought she would be the one because most girl groups know other girl groups' voices a little bit. We had had an encounter on a flight once, so I had met her and I think she remembered that too.

Do you think your sister Bonnie, who died in 2020, was looking down and cheering you on from above?
Absolutely, her and Jim both. They would have loved watching me do that. Of course, Bonnie would have loved to do it herself.

The late Bonnie Pointer. Leon Bennett/Getty

Between the personal loss and the pandemic that you've dealt with in the last year and a half, did doing the show give you some levity?
Oh God, yes. Are you kidding me? After 19 months of staring at Netflix and Hulu and all of it really felt good to get out and do something fun and different and new and relevant. I was very happy to do it.

You made the most of your time on the show, playing up the date night theme of Wednesday's episode and saying that you'd tell your younger self to "date, not marry."
Oh my God, I thought I had to marry everybody I was in love with or had feelings for. It was really about the intimacy and the sex and all that, because I come from that time in our history where you just didn't do that unless you were planning to marry the person. So, that's why I ended up married so many times!

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Now you've been married for over 30 years.
I've been married over 30 years to the same man, oh my God! It is a good place to be. It wasn't easy all those years, but I'm at a point now in my life that I really appreciate where I am in my relationship.

Were you disappointed to go out at this point in the competition?
I felt a little twinge of disappointment when they said "Cupcake," but I felt like I did enough considering where I am in my life. I thought, "Wow, you lasted through one episode and you did just fine." I mean, I'm 75 years old, so you need to be grateful for what you got.

The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays (8 p.m. ET) on Fox