When McKenzie Westmore began “Face Off,” she never imagined she’d become an ordained minister who married couples sporting special-effects makeup on the show.

Wild as that scenario may sound, it happens in the 100th episode of the Syfy competition series, to be shown during the ninth season that starts Tuesday, July 28. “I’ve always been a very spiritual person,” the lively Westmore explains, “and I always was very open to everything and anything.

“I became a member of the church that I belong to in Los Angeles years ago because I wanted to, but also because I wanted my son baptized in this particular church. When I was approached to become a minister, it wasn’t even a second thought. I was honored that they asked, but for it to be part of the challenge of marrying couples in special-effects makeup was so off-the-wall crazy and cool, of course I was going to do it.”

That episode is slated for Aug. 11, and Westmore recalls that during the taping, “as I was giving the vows of marriage to these beautiful couples, I made eye contact with one of the soon-to-be brides. And as I said, ‘With the power vested in me … ,’ there was a moment where I paused. It was like, ‘Whoa! There’s power vested in me right now?’ And she had tears coming down her face, and it was unbelievably powerful for me. I started to choke up.”

Along with that new wrinkle, “Face Off” still gets down to basic business, with 16 makeup artists divided into teams of two to devise “aliens” that can be combined into a much bigger and more fearsome creation. Genre experts Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill and Neville Page return as judges, with someone Westmore knows very well — her Oscar-winning makeup-master father, Michael (“Mask”) – back as the contestants’ mentor.

The former “Passions” co-star says it’s been “amazing” to experience the show “through my father’s eyes. I even wrote him a very long Father’s Day card and when he opened it, he was like, ‘Whoo.’ During my childhood, he wasn’t around a lot because he was doing this line of work; now, as an adult, I ‘get’ it and I understand it.

“I wrote him, ‘I realize that for all those years you were gone, it was for the love of your family and the love of your craft. And I’m so grateful for the man that you are and the way that you raised me.’ He’s very stoic, but that was one of the few times I saw him ever so slightly give a little bit of a hiccup.”

Also involving “Star Trek: The Next Generation ” alums Jonathan Frakes and Michael Dorn this time, “Face Off” starts its new season with a Critics Choice Television Award win for best reality competition series.

Westmore couldn’t attend the May ceremony in Los Angeles due to New York commitments involving her recently launched Westmore Beauty makeup line, but “my parents had gone and I was in the hotel room, and I got a call from my mom whispering into the phone, ‘We won!’ And I went, ‘What?’ I started crying, I was so overjoyed. It’s a big deal, and we’re so appreciative.”