Matthew Lawrence was revealed as the character Paparazzo during the latest season of Fox’s The Masked Singer, and despite making it through quite a good amount of rounds, the actor said he almost chickened out from joining as a contestant.

“I had this real stage fright when it comes to singing in front of a large audience. I had a bad audition. I bombed a Broadway audition back in the day, and I spent two decades kind of living with that weight and saying no to these opportunities,” Lawrence told Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “This came along, and my older brother [Joey Lawrence] had done it, and my first reaction when they asked, I was like, ‘No.’ I fell back into old patterns, and I was acting out of fear.”

Thanks to some convincing from his older brother (with whom he hosts the Brotherly Love podcast along with Andy Lawrence, their younger brother) he quickly learned that refusing to act out of fear can lead to amazing things.

On overcoming his biggest fear

“I had this kind of breakthrough moment during the Shrek night of all things, my breakthrough performance. I had that moment on stage where all the anxiety and the fear were gone, and I was able to just sing for a moment, and the audience responded. It’s the same kind of feeling you get as an actor when you’re in front of a live audience, and you get that laugh, or you start to gear up, and you’re free for a moment,” he said. “It’s like lightning in a bottle. I’ll take that with me for the rest of my life. It was such a wonderful experience, and to have that and to be able to get over that fear, and then now not live in fear anymore, and to be able to say yes to these opportunities, it’s like a whole weight has been lifted off my shoulders, to be honest, through this crazy Masked Singer experience.”

One of his big clues of the night, for anyone who keeps up with Lawrence’s personal life, was the song selection of TLC’s “Unpretty,” due to his relationship with singer Chilli. However, he said this was not intentional at all.

His decision behind TLC’s “Unpretty” as a song selection

“The Masked Singer crew sends everybody these questionnaires that you fill out, like, what’s your favorite genre of music, the artists that you listen to, and then one of the questions was what’s one of those guilty pleasure songs you sing in the shower? And when ‘Unpretty’ came out, I don’t know, it was just that moment where I loved the song so much, but as a guy, I was a little self-conscious to be out there going, ‘I’m pretty,’ so I would sing in the shower,” Lawrence said. “I wrote it down thinking, oh, they’re gonna find this funny. Like, I’m an actor and I love comedies, so I was like they’ll find this funny.”

He added, “Then, sure enough, the week before, they go, guess what? We want you to sing ‘Unpretty.’ And I was like, no, that was a joke, guys, you don’t understand the pressure you’re putting on me.”

It was pressure he spoke about with his girlfriend, Chilli, as well as TLC group member Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins, whom he had to ask to clear the song for his performance. 

“I’m like, oh my gosh, I can’t butcher this, and sure enough, the nerves were there. It was a lot of nerves, but it was such an honor, and they were so supportive,” Lawrence said. “Chilli, in particular, was so supportive, so sweet. She called me after and she’s like, ‘I watched you. You did so good. You did it justice.’ And I’m like, that’s just super cool, man.”  

His performance was a family affair

Another dead giveaway of the night was Lawrence’s introduction by fellow former Boy Meets World star and close friend Danielle Fishel, the actor behind one of the culture’s favorite characters, Topanga.

“I didn’t know, by the way, they have you on such lockdown. I mean, that’s another wild experience with this show. You’re cloaked,” he said. “You have a visor. You can’t show any skin. You got a sweatshirt that says, ‘Don’t Talk to Me.’ You’re ushered around the dark hallways of a sound stage, and you’re pushed into a car. It’s such a wild experience.”

He said the moment with Fishel was a testament to the bond they share, all these years later, after appearing on one of the most hit shows of the ’90s. 

“You become a family, and it’s very similar to a family in the sense that no matter what happens, you’re going to be a part of each other’s lives,” Lawrence, who played Jack Hunter on the show, said. “There can be ups and downs. You can have disagreements, but in the end of the day, you’re family and you gotta get past all that, and that’s really what we are. They’re a part of my family, they’re a part of my life. I’m honored to have everyone from that show, especially Danielle, in my life. The fact that she did that was so cool and so sweet. I called her right after I saw it, and I said, ‘I can’t believe you did this.’ And she was like, ‘It was so hard to keep it a secret. I wanted to text you so bad.’ I was like, ‘You did a good job,’ because I had no clue she was going to be there, zero. I was just as shocked watching TV, like, ‘What the heck is this? When did she get there?’”

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