AJ Michalka Thought About Sister Aly's 'Sweet' Son Jack to Calm Her 'Nerves' While on The Masked Singer (Exclusive)

Warning: This article contains spoilers from the December 11 episode Masked singer.

Strawberry Shortcake showed off some serious vocal chops in her rendition of Selena Gomez’s “Lose You to Love Me” as a semi-finalist at Masked singer and in the end took home the bronze.

AJ Michalka was revealed as the star behind Strawberry Shortcake’s mask on the Dec. 11 episode after facing off against the Wasp and the Buffalos — and she performed her and sister Aly’s modern classic “Potential Breakup Song” in a very energetic send-off moment.

“I’m not mad at [third place]”, she tells PEOPLE. “I wanted the first two, but it’s solid.”

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Musician and actress Aly & AJ (33) rarely appear on stage as soloists, and the sister duo was initially offered to appear on Masked singer together. But the show was in production as Aly, 34, prepared to welcome her first son Jack in April with husband Stephen Ringer, and encouraged AJ to compete on his own.

As a nod to both her sister and their fans, AJ performed two songs she’s already covered with Aly: “Closer” by Tegan and Sara and “Slow Burn” by Kacey Musgraves. The judges were close on their guesses, while Robin Thicke questioned whether Danielle Haim or Haylie Duff was in the Strawberry Shortcake costume, but couldn’t quite tell Steven Universe star.

After AJ’s elimination, she spoke to PEOPLE about her Masked singer experience, hanging out with an ex The Goldbergs actress Hayley Orrantia on set, how thinking about Jack helped her get through the competition, and what fans can expect from Aly & AJ’s upcoming new album.

How did you decide to proceed Masked singer? And have you already been a viewer of the show?

I’ve seen the series before. A very, very good friend of mine was in Season 7, Hayley Orrantia. She was the ringleader. I was crazy that season. I saw Jewel’s performance, which I loved, and LeAnn Rimes. I know they won their seasons. But I didn’t know the show that well.

The event was actually fantastic. Aly and I were asked to do it together as a duo. She actually just gave birth to Jack, because he came a little early, and I knew going into it, “This is going to be really hard when Aly is a new mom.” And as we were about to shoot it, I said, “This isn’t going to make any sense timing-wise.” So I talked to her and said, “Hey, would you be okay with me just doing it myself?” And she said, “Hell yeah. Go kill it.”

It was exciting. I never did anything without her on stage. Obviously I’ve done some things theatrically, and I’ve gone very far in some Broadway shows. So I definitely have the confidence as a solo artist to do that, but it’s not my normal jam, and I never have any desire to go in a solo direction. But I said, “I want to do it. I think it would be cool.”

I got to pick all my songs and it was great not having to sing Aly & AJ songs. I’ve been singing our songs all my life, which I love, but I had a moment to really appreciate the songs of Selena, Kacey Musgraves, Lee Ann Womack. I had a Liz Phair and Billie Eilish song ready, but they didn’t make it to the air. But that’s what sold me on the show. Once they said the artist could pick every song, I said, “I’m all for it. Let’s do it.”

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Aly & AJ in February 2023.

Elyse Jankowski/Getty

How did it feel to sing the two songs you and Aly did together, “Closer” by Tegan and Sara and “Slow Burn” by Kacey Musgraves?

I chose them on purpose to be cheeky. Because I said, “Deep fans will know it might be AJ or Aly, because we both covered those songs.” But the judges didn’t get it, which I thought was funny. I think they would only expect me as a duo. I chose those two songs because I feel very comfortable singing them, and I would sing them on stage a lot. So I rearranged them to be solo songs. I took different parts than I would have if it was me and Aly. I also sang a lot more of the song, of course, because usually Aly and I go back and forth on the verses and the bridge. I just said, “You know what? I’m used to singing these, I recorded them and I’m just going to sing them myself.”

Was it cool to sing Miley’s song on “Wrecking Ball,” considering you had parallel tracks on the Disney Channel in the 2000s?

That. I actually loved that moment. I was going to get to Miley the night of the airing but I didn’t, which is stupid but I haven’t seen her in so long. But I just want to reach out and say, “I had so much fun singing that song. It’s so good.” I was between “Wrecking Ball” and “Slide Away,” but I said, “You know what? ‘Wrecking Ball’ is such a moment, and it’s such a theatrical ball piece.” Everything was perfect on stage. Even Ken swinging on the ball later in the show was hilarious.

Miley Cyrus, AJ Michalka and Aly Michalka in July 2006.

Kevin Winter/Getty

You’ve talked about devoting your time on the show to Jack, Alyna’s son. How did you think about him at each performance?

If I was nervous, I would think only of him. As an artist, you still get stage fright from time to time. If I’m with Aly and we’re about to go on stage, I’m very calm. But in this show, you’re adding so many elements that you’re not used to, between the heels, the cake skirt, and the helmet [with the] strawberry, and everything is difficult, and you’re not used to singing those songs, and you have a few days to prepare, and there’s also a small choreo.

It adds elements that brought my nerves to the surface just a little more, so my meditation before I continued was just thinking about Jack, watching FaceTime videos with him and some videos of him as a newborn. Things like that made me so happy, brought me out of my shell and made me go, “Okay, think about who you are as an aunt and go perform for Jack.” It really helps.

How will this experience influence your approach to performance in the future – or has it already, since you recorded it a few months ago?

I always think that moments like this are just little bits of extra confidence. I already felt really confident in my vocals. I trained for a very long time. I’ve been singing for years and had an amazing vocal coach on the show. I felt really centered and grounded with these songs because I love those songs. The one thing I can say I’ve taken away every night is just newfound confidence. You just say, “Okay, great. I can take it with me. I know I can sing that song. I know I can sing in that register. I know I can hit that note.”

Even auditioning for Wicked One day, two years ago, I auditioned for Glinda and I didn’t go far crazy, but I ended up having the opportunity to sing some really amazing songs from that show, and I didn’t know I could sing those songs. When you’re a singer and you’re singing in a certain genre, like Aly and I, it’s more of a rock band — we’re not necessarily always belting out — you don’t always know the things you can pull off. Then, down the road, you start singing other songs, and you’re like, “Wow. I didn’t really know I could do that.”

AJ Michalka and Hayley Orrantia in July 2018.

Rich Polk/Getty

Hayley Orrantia, your former actress The Goldbergswas your Mask ambassador. How did it feel to have her in your corner a year after the sitcom ended?

It was so great. She is the best. First of all, she is one of my closest friends. I was at her wedding. We are very, very close. Second, he has such an amazing voice. I have so much respect for her as a fellow singer and actress, but her voice just makes me melt. Season 7 is really when I was introduced to the show, and I knew right away that it was her. I said, “It’s Hayley.”

So when they said, “This is the first year we’re going to have ambassadors. Do you have any ideas?” I said, “Idea number one, it has to be Hayley. It just makes sense. It has to be the Ringmaster.” And they said, “Done.”

I thought it would be super obvious to everyone. I think it’s because of the fans. I don’t think the judges necessarily knew, which is funny. But she was on almost every shoot. Apart from what she was used for in front of the cameras to introduce me, she came as support – she, my boyfriend [Josh Pence] and my manager. Aly was in Santa Barbara with her sweet boy, or she would have come. But I had a really nice circle of support around me during the shoot, and Hayley was one of those people.

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Aly & AJ in June 2022.

Daniel Zuchnik/Getty

You and Aly have revealed the title of your next album, Deliverer of silver. Are you excited to be back on the album?

I’m so excited. We finished filming just before I went on Masked singerso I really warmed up vocally. I just finished 15 songs with her. I felt very good. Right after the show ended, we finished post-production, so we’re mixing and mastering right now, which takes a lot of time. But we totally got the record. We know all the songs. We haven’t set a release date yet, but we’re definitely going on a lot of tours next fall. It’s going to be a really big year for the band. I couldn’t be more proud of this record. It’s my favorite thing we’ve ever done, hands down.

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Source: HIS Education