While The Masked SingerIn the Season 12 finale, the Buffalos – now known as the Boyz II Men – achieved an achievement that no other group had ever achieved before: They became the first band to win the Golden Mask trophy, but initially didn’t have the victory in mind.

“For the umpteenth time they called us… and we decided we would do it.” Vanya Morris told exclusively Us weekly before the final on Wednesday, December 18th. “Because they called us a few times and we couldn’t make it. So last time we thought, ‘Okay, let’s just get this over with so they never call us again.'”

Wanyá, 51, and his bandmates, Nathan Morris (no relationship) and Shawn StockmanThey thought the show would be “good exposure,” but they didn’t think they could take home the top honor. The Masked Singer has a history of eliminating major recording artists during season premieres, and the boys thought that might be their fate.

“(We thought), ‘We probably won’t win because they know who we are.’ Either we’ll be guessed, or if we hide our voices, we know they won’t like who we are and we’ll be kicked out,” Wanyá recalled, before Nathan, 53, interjected: “That’s what we were hoping for Kicked out the first night so we could go back home!”

Related: ‘The Masked Singer’ Winners Through the Years: Where Are They Now?

Who is that? This question is asked multiple times by panelists on The Masked Singer every episode, and the answer is: Everyone. Since the show premiered in January 2019, celebrity participants have included Joey Fatone, Michelle Williams, Tori Spelling, Mickey Rourke, Patti LaBelle, Kelly Osbourne, Bret Michaels, Lil Wayne, Jordyn Woods, Wendy Williams, (…)

However, after they started filming, they changed their tune. “When we got there and saw the energy and felt the whole vibe, we were like, ‘Look, man, as long as we’re here, we might as well stay,'” Wanyá said Us. “And win. And then go!”

Shawn, 52, admitted the trio “didn’t expect much from the experience” but soon “they really got into it” performing as the Buffalos.

“It allowed us to be ourselves, believe it or not,” he explained. “The masks allowed us to reveal things about who we are as singers, who we are as people and music lovers, because a lot of people wouldn’t associate Boyz II Men with Toto or other songs we did on the show It was nice for people to take a look at our playlist, songs and music we love from artists that in some cases we’ve liked since we were kids. So it was nice and it got deeper than just winning the whole thing.”

During the final, the boys even faltered on stage, which Wanyá attributed to the unusual circumstances of the competition The Masked Singer as well as the realization that filming the show had brought them closer together.

“What moved us more than anything was the fact that we had mastered a situation from which most people would withdraw. It was really hot in those suits and we didn’t know if we would be able to do performances like (the final) right from the start,” he explained. “To me it just felt like we were a new group. And we were accepted as good singers and artists, and we weren’t even really human. … We were all the buffalo, you know what I mean? Although we are individuals, we have all embodied the same character and overcome every obstacle, the dehydration, we have overcome the fear. We mastered everything and sang for the people from the bottom of our hearts.”

Shawn agreed, adding, “It just made us realize that we still have the energy that we always had (since) 33 years ago.” Sometimes in any relationship you tend to lose the dynamic you’ve built on has to take for granted and that has made us refocus. It reminded us why we did this in the first place.”

Boyz II Men have no plans of slowing down in the new year, with tour dates through July fully booked.

“A lot of people use the word ‘relevant’ in their own terms and we feel like we’re relevant to each other and that’s more important to us than anything else,” Nathan said. “And as long as we stay relevant to each other, we can follow right along with what everyone else is doing. And we still have a lot to do.”