Fine, we'll play the Claim To Fame celebrity guessing game this summer
After the dramatic exit of Tom Hanks' niece in the opening episode, count us in for another round of ABC's bonkers reality competition series
The producers of Claim To Fame couldn’t have asked for better promotion for the show’s newly launched second season, which premiered on ABC on June 26, than a viral video of the first eliminated contestant losing her shit while the cameras rolled. With that memorable meltdown, viewers were hooked all over again.
The reality series features relatives of celebrities competing against each other to guess the identities of each others’ famous family members, while keeping their own a secret. Last year’s first season premiere, which ended with Chuck Norris’ grandson being disqualified for cheating (he was caught using a forbidden cell phone), seemed hard to top, but it looks like the show found a way. The first eliminated contestant in season two, Carly Reeves, stormed off the set screaming and crying about the unfairness of the game and her lack of screen time after fellow competitor Hugo correctly guessed that she’s related to Tom Hanks, who is her uncle (by marriage). She may look back on the incident later with embarrassment, but maybe it’s a blessing that her wild departure ended up overshadowing her awful rapping in the talent show.
This season, once again hosted by celebrity brothers Kevin and Frankie Jonas, introduced a new batch of 12 (now 11) players vying for a $100,000 prize. They’ll compete in challenges each episode to earn clues to the identities of their opponents’ celebrity relatives, while also living together in a spacious hacienda just outside of Los Angeles. Whoever lands on the bottom must correctly guess the celebrity relative of another chosen contestant or face elimination. Last year’s cast included Zendaya’s cousin, Whoopi Goldberg’s granddaughter, and Laverne Cox’s identical twin brother.
As far as mindless summer entertainment goes, it’s a fair distraction (if you’d rather watch a show that will challenge you, there’s always The Bear). At least the guessing game aspect of it keeps things interesting. For those who want to play along, here’s a list of this season’s remaining contestants and the clues they provided in the first “Two Truths and a Lie” game. They were each asked to give their relationship to their celebrity relative, what they are famous for, and the most prestigious award they’ve won. We’ll keep this list updated with new clues, plus our guesses and predictions each week as the show continues, but here’s what we know for now.
Chris
- Two truths and a lie: star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (other answers edited out)
- Looks and sings like his famous relative
Cole
- Two truths and a lie: father (other answers edited out)
- Picked spray painting as his talent
Gabriel
- Two truths and a lie: brother, athlete, NAACP award
- Lied about brother being an athlete
- Looks nothing like his brother
Hugo
- Two truths and a lie: grandfather, athlete, Nobel Prize
- Lied about grandfather being an athlete
- Grandfather was once the most powerful man in the world
Jane
- Two truths and a lie: dad, musician, Grammy award
- Played ukulele and sang for her talent
J.R.
- Two truths and a lie: brother (other answers edited out)
- Lied about brother being an NBA player
Karsyn
- Two truths and a lie: musician (other answers edited out)
- Sang off key as her “talent”
Monay
- Two truths and a lie: father, athlete, Emmy award
- Said lying is her strategy
Olivia
- Two truths and a lie: Razzie award
- The rest of her clues were edited out, but she used a male pronoun
Shayne
- Two truths and a lie: father, musician, Grammy award
- Travis revealed a pictogram puzzle clue related to her with two possible Eddie Murphy references—Coming To America and Buckwheat (a character he played on SNL)
Travis
- Two truths and a lie: father, actor, Critic’s Choice Award
- Said reciting 100 digits of pi was a risk because it put him in the “nerd category” like his father
That’s all the intel we’ve gathered so far. After the second episode, which drops on July 3 at 8 pm ET on ABC, we’ll add in some of the houseguests’ predictions and our own guesses to the list of clues. Let the guessing game begin.