‘Claim to Fame’ Cast Cries After Learning Hugo’s Celebrity Relative

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Claim to Fame Season 2 Episode 7.]

The Claim to Fame cast was brought to tears when Hugo’s celebrity relative was revealed in Episode 7. It wasn’t Hugo’s elimination that got them teary-eyed, but rather his claim to fame’s contributions to American history.

As we predicted early on, Hugo’s celebrity relative is President Jimmy Carter, his maternal grandfather. As revealed at the end of the episode, his mother is Amy Carter, the 39th president’s only daughter. She grew up in the White House when her father was Commander in Chief from 1977 to 1981, and Hugo calls him “Papa.”

Hugo (last name Wentzel) was eliminated when he incorrectly guessed that Chris is related to Elton John, marking the second time someone has been sent home for making an incorrect guess about his famous family member’s identity. (Jane — real name Jada — went home in Episode 3 after guessing he was related to Elvis Presley. She is the niece of Dolly Parton.)

“That’s so cool!” co-host Franklin Jonas yelled when Carter’s face was revealed on screen. The former president is currently in hospice care and was at the time of filming as Hugo stated in the episode, so there was no video shout-out for this episode. But Hugo brought the cast to tears when singing his grandpa’s praises.

ABC/John Fleenor

“He’s an amazing grandpa, honestly. I love him so much. I call him Papa,” Hugo told the cast. “He led America and my family very well. I stand for everything he stands for. He believes in equality for everyone regardless of race, class, gender, or anything. He’s just an amazing person. I aspire to be like him one day. I also want to say that he’s recently been put into hospice because he has been very sick. It’s really sad. I love you so much, Papa. You are amazing, and I will do everything I can to keep your legacy alive. Lead with love, that’s all I’ve got to say.”

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Monay welled up as she said “very cool” in response to his remarks. Tears were streaming down J.R.’s face when the camera cut to him, and Karsyn was seen wiping tears away as well. Kevin Jonas and Franklin were also moved by the reveal.

Hugo’s hints from Episode 1 all make sense in hindsight. His two truths were that his grandfather is a Nobel Prize winner, and his lie was that said grandfather was a famous athlete. We predicted that his relative was either Al Gore or Carter up until his clue was deciphered, its message saying, “Commander in Chief who farmed nuts.” Carter famously grew up on a peanut farm.

While Hugo’s clue was one of the easier to figure out, the entire cast is still stumped by Chris’s. In Episode 7, Hugo pitched the Elton John idea when they were pondering what the “colorful coat” and Vegas residency clues could mean. Another clue, the state of Utah, was bafflingly considered applicable to John’s life. This cast seems to think John, a famously British music icon, is from Utah. Have they never heard him speak?

How long do you think it will take for them to figure out that Chris’s father is Donny Osmond? That’s our theory, at least! It makes sense: Osmond was a teen star in the 1970s, is from Utah, has a song called “Puppy Love,” and played Joseph in the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat movie. Gabriel, unknowingly or not, got close to figuring out that last clue in Episode 7 when he joked that Chris could be related to Joseph and his coat of many colors from the Bible. That biblical tale is the story on which Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is based. Could Chris win it all because this young cast has never heard of the Osmonds?

Did you guess Hugo’s relative correctly? Let us know in the comments below.

Claim to Fame, Mondays, 10/9c, ABC