Warning: this article contains spoilers for Claim to Fame season 2.
Everybody wants their fifteen minutes of fame, but the ABC reality television show Claim to Fame turns that premise on its head, pitting various loved ones of famous folks against each other in a battle to see who can avoid the limelight the most.
The second season of the addictive series dropped its final episode yesterday, and with it, a winner was declared: Gabriel Cannon, brother to musician, actor, comic, and serial father Nick Cannon. Read on for more information on Gabriel, and the future of Claim to Fame.
What is Claim to Fame?
Hosted by Kevin and Frankie Jonas, Claim to Fame pits 12 contestants against each other for the opportunity to win $100,000. The participants of the show all share one thing in common: they have a famous relative. At the beginning of the show, they all move into a house together and are then let loose to try and figure out who’s related to whom. All the while, they need to keep their own famous family member a secret.
It’s not just spying and guessing, though. In each episode, the contestants have a competition of some kind, from celebrity trivia games to feats of physical endurance. The winner of these games gets immunity for that round, meaning they can’t be voted off. More intriguingly, they also get a bonus clue about a fellow competitor, which they can then choose to share with the group.
As the episode comes to a close, the contestants secretly vote for which of the two worst performers in that week’s challenge will become what’s called a “guesser.” This person then chooses someone else from the group (other than that week’s immune winner) and tells everybody which famous face they think that person is related to. If they’re correct, the other person says goodbye. However, if they get it wrong, they’re the ones out the door instead.
Over the course of the series, friendships and alliances are formed and smashed, and there’s plenty of that interpersonal drama that drives the best reality television, which is why this is such a compelling watch.
Who were the contestants on season 2 of Claim to Fame?
The contestants in season one of Claim to Fame had a bunch of truly astounding names to drop, including legendary crooner Dean Martin and iconic model Cindy Crawford, so the season two participants had some star-filled heights to live up to. Luckily, the producers did a stand-up job and recruited the nearest and dearest of big stars and household names.
Here are the contestants on season two of Claim to Fame as well as who they are related to, in the order that they were eliminated from the show.
- Carly Reeves (Niece of Tom Hanks)
- Travis Tyson (Son of Neil DeGrasse Tyson)
- Jada Star/”Jane” (Niece of Dolly Parton)
- Shayne Murphy (Daughter of Eddie Murphy)
- Cole Cook (Brother of Alicia Keys)
- Olivia Aquilina (Niece of Jenny McCarthy)
- Hugo Wentzel (Grandson of Jimmy Carter)
- Robert Lamar Stafford, Jr./”J.R.” (Brother of Lil Nas X)
- Karsyn Elledge (Niece of Dale Earnhardt Jr.)
- Chris Osmond (Son of Donny Osmond)
- Jerrica Brooks “Monay” (Daughter of J.B. Smoove)
- Gabriel Cannon (Brother of Nick Cannon)
What happened in the season 2 finale of Claim to Fame?
The final episode was over two parts, and in the first installment, Gabriel was finally pegged for lying about being related to an athlete but saved his skin by winning the challenge and nominating himself as guesser. He eliminated Karsyn, correctly guessing her uncle was racing driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., something the other cast members had all managed to figure out by that point. This left Chris, Gabriel, and Monay as the final three.
The second part of the finale had a surprise start, as Kevin Jonas returned from touring with The Jonas Brothers. Franklin, who probably does have some musical talent despite not being in the group that made their family name famous, had been doing hosting duties alone, but with his brother’s return came the fun banter and connection the hosts have, just one of the things that makes this show so fun to watch.
Some other people came back, too: every contestant who’d been eliminated from season two so far. The group gathered at a pool party, where they used their (questionable) knowledge and skills to help the surviving trio find out who was related to whom. This led to the final challenge, which involved digging through massive haystacks. Gabriel continued his streak of winning competitions, getting himself into the final guess off, leaving Monay and Chris to fight it out. He was also given the job of selecting who would be the guesser out of the remaining two, and chose Monay.
Chris had survived a few other guesses, but this time Monay had his number and was right when she said that Chris was related to mum-music icon Donny Osmond. This left Gabriel and Monay as the final two, and as they went into the last round of the competition, tension was high. Gabriel once again chose himself as guesser, and smashed it out of the park, correctly guessing that Monay is related to Jerry Brooks, aka J.B. Smoove of SNL and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame.
The episode ended with a pre-recorded video of Gabriel’s big brother Nick congratulating him, and getting in a little joke about the fact that Gabriel was bigger than him despite being the younger sibling.
Who is Gabriel Cannon, winner of season 2 of Claim to Fame?
Not much is known about Gabriel, other than he’s Nick Cannon’s brother. He has released some music under his name with a fellow Cannon brother, Reuben. However, there are some snippets of information available about him. In an interview with Parade, he discusses how he teaches improv to youths in his local area:
“For the last seven years I’ve been working in the community, man, just giving back to the youth and teaching acting and improv class things I learned from being under Nick’s wings, but just teaching them in the community.”
He also talked about how he got onto the show in the first place, confirming that he didn’t bother to ask for his famous brother’s permission:
“I got a message in my inbox. I didn’t know if it was real or not. The message was almost too good to be true…So then they told me the concept of the show, and I’m like, “I know it’s not.” Then they told me they wanted me to be on it and it’s like, “Hallelujah.” And so it was all too perfect… For once in my life, not looking like Nick was too perfect. Everything fit for me… I was not going to consider Nick’s opinion. I’m sorry. Thank God he was for me, but I was not… But the good thing is I think he went back, watched the first season, loved the concept.”
Will there be a season 3 of Claim to Fame?
There has been no news from ABC whether or not a third season of Claim to Fame will air. However, given the show created some brilliantly viral moments (like the insane meltdown of Carly Reeves), has driven plenty of online conversation, and had decent ratings, there is every chance it will be back. When you also take into account the ongoing writers and actors strike, the odds only increase in its favor.
If it does come back, the season will likely drop in June or July, as that’s the time the previous first episodes were released.
