‘This is totally different’: Donny Osmond shares the advice he gave his son Chris ahead of ‘Claim To Fame’

Donny Osmond is, simply put, a legend, starting his journey through stardom as a teen idol and becoming an all-powerful presence in the entertainment industry — it’s hard to look at music, dance, and even game show television without being awed by his talent.

His name, once again, is in the entertainment realm because of a new game show, but this time, it’s in reference to his son, Chris. Chris Osmond was a contestant on the television series Claim to Fame. While a younger generation might not have been able to draw a quick connection between the two, many others immediately spotted it.

Osmond spoke with People about the particular audience who likely knew immediately who was Chris’ relative:

“It’s funny because I can only imagine how many moms are screaming at the television because he’s done such a great job to keep it hidden. Everybody has been screaming at the television set, ‘Oh, it’s Donny Osmond.'”

The series’ premise was this: Twelve celebrity relatives were all placed in a house together, and their job was simple – figure out who was related to whom without letting their walls down and allowing others to discover their claim to fame. Osmond himself knows a thing or two about the reality realm, and he had some advice for his son:

“Obviously I’ve done several [reality shows] with The Masked Singer and Dancing with the Stars but this is totally different. So I [told him], ‘Just be as clever as you can in this kind of situation.’ And boy, has he been clever.”

Osmond believed that a big part of the reason no one discovered their kinship was because of a generational gap, something he’s seen a time or two throughout his career:

“This dynamic of having Chris on the show, that’s what’s making it exciting because the older generation, they know exactly what it is. And the younger kids, they have no idea. This happens to me all the time, especially in my Vegas show when I do ‘I’ll Make a Man Out of You’ from Mulan. The younger generation come to my show but it surprises them that I’m Captain Shang and they can’t get that. These millennials, they know the song, they know all about it, but they just don’t know that it’s Donny Osmond.”

The series came to an exciting conclusion on Monday, August 28, and Chris was part of the final three in the running for the grand prize and had the honor of being called the winner of Claim to Fame‘s second season. We won’t give you spoilers if you’ve yet to see the conclusion of the season, but we will say this: despite who wins and who loses, this was undoubtedly an exciting watch, and we’re glad to see how much fun Chris had on the series and how much of a privilege Donny felt it was to watch along.