Who is Hud related to on ‘Claim to Fame?’

After episode 4, it is clear that Hud is the definition of silent but deadly in Claim to Fame season 3.

Despite keeping a low profile all season long, Hud proved himself to be a strategic mastermind in episode 4, devising a master plan for either himself or Adam to correctly guess Naomi’s celebrity relative and knock the seemingly smartest player out of the competition. With the plan proving to be successful — with Adam making the first correct guess of the season, taking out Naomi once and for all — Hud is emerging from the shadows, leaving fans of the series with one burning question: Who is his celebrity relative anyway?

Based on some extensive research, we pinpointed exactly who Hud’s celebrity relative is, and we cannot believe that nobody in the Claim to Fame mansion has guessed it yet.

Hud’s celebrity relative is…

Thanks to the wine clue Naomi pulled during episode 2, Claim to Fame fans believe they’ve found out that Hud’s celebrity relative is the one and only John Mellencamp.

Hud’s clue included images of cherries, a bomb, a painter, and more, which Naomi deciphered to mean “‘Cherry Bomb’ artist.” While Naomi was unable to determine who said “‘Cherry Bomb’ artist” before her untimely departure, the rest of the clue translated Hud’s clues to “‘Cherry Bomb’ artist who ‘Hurts So Good,'” which is a direct reference to John Mellencamp’s biggest hits: “Cherry Bomb” and “Hurts So Good.”

Other clues that reference Mellencamp are the limerick from episode 3 — which reads “On the mountain there once was a lion” — as well as the scarecrow on the clue wall. As a cougar is another name for a mountain lion, it is believed that the limerick references Mellencamp’s nickname, John Cougar Mellencamp. On the other hand, while many think that the scarecrow is a reference to Michael Jackson’s alleged celebrity relative, Dedrick — because Jackson played The Scarecrow in The Wiz — Scarecrow is the name of Mellencamp’s album from 1985.

As if the clues featured throughout Claim to Fame season 3 were not enough, Hud was also tagged in a photo from his half-sister, Teddi Mellencamp, in December of 2023. Both Hud and John Mellencamp are in the family photo, proving they are related.

With Miguel being related to Jamie Lee Curtis and Naomi being related to Molly Ringwald, there are still some superstar celebrity relatives who have yet to be revealed. Catch brand new episodes of Claim to Fame season 3 on Wednesdays at 10:00pm ET/PT on ABC so you don’t miss a single reveal. Until then, it is safe to say some social media sleuthing is in order…