‘The Masked Singer’ Season 9: What Happened to Bishop Briggs’ Sister?
Fox’s The Masked Singer Season 9 finale is here, and fans get to see Medusa and Macaw take the stage one final time. Early spoilers from the season noted singer/songwriter Bishop Briggs was singing behind the Medusa mask, and clues later in the show led to this conclusion. So, what happened to Bishop Briggs’ sister? Here’s what to know.
[Spoiler alert: The Masked Singer Season 9 spoilers ahead regarding the finale.]
What happened to Bishop Briggs’ sister?
Bishop Briggs’ sister died in 2021 at age 30 due to ovarian cancer. Kate McLaughlin was 2 years older than Briggs (whose real name is Sarah Grace McLaughlin). She was diagnosed with cancer the summer before her death. Since The Masked Singer Season 9 star’s devastating loss, she’s reflected on her grief and written songs revealing her pain, like “High Water” and “Art of Survival.”
Back in January 2021, Briggs posted home videos of her and her sister to her Instagram with the caption, “I miss you,” along with several crying emojis. In February 2023, Briggs went back to Instagram to reflect on two years of grieving.
“I hate that I feel like I’m being consistently bombarded with all kinds of memories and smells and feelings that surround her passing when she led such a full life,” Briggs wrote. “We led such a full life together.”
She then reflected on getting pregnant and wondering how she would learn to raise her child without her sister. “Who would my kids go to for that different perspective other than my own?” Briggs wrote. “Who would teach them about ayurvedic medicine? Who would make them laugh till their stomach hurt? Who would teach them how to bake? And then there’s me! Who would I call when I felt overwhelmed? ….”
She sought help for her own depression in the wake of her sisters’ death
Bishop Briggs wrote about her sister’s death in Nylon in July 2022. She wrote about her deteriorating mental and physical health as a result of her grief.
“When I lost my older sister, Kate, to ovarian cancer last year, I remember how, in the dark one night, I typed into my phone ‘I want to kill myself. What should I do?'” Briggs confessed. “I felt trapped in my own brain, fearful that if I shared these thoughts with anyone, even mental health professionals, I would not be met with the compassion I needed.”
Briggs then detailed how she went to a doctor at her mother’s request after neglecting her physical health. Eventually, she sat down with her husband and talked about her severe mental state. Briggs got herself on antidepressants and sought help.
“I think when you’re so deep in the dark, you forget that medication is even an option,” she continued. “I also found solace in online communities — to hear that I wasn’t alone in my grief and that there were tangible steps that I could take toward living. That was a game-changer.”
Bishop Briggs’ talked about a ‘devastating loss’ on ‘The Masked Singer’ Season 9
Bishop Briggs sang under the Medusa mask in The Masked Singer Season 9, and as the show got closer to the finale, she revealed more about her sister’s death.
“Making it into the semi-finals means so much to me,” Medusa shared on the show. “The coolest part of all is that this is the show the person closest to me would a hundred percent have been a fan of. She was a really colorful, vibrant person, and was my biggest cheerleader. In 2020, I lost her. She was really young, and it was really sudden.”
“When you lose your other half, it’s really hard to see what your future could look like,” Briggs continued as Medusa during the semifinals. “So, it felt like the biggest blessing ever when I found out I was pregnant with my son. It felt like a gift from her.”
The Masked Singer Season 9 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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