‘Claim to Fame’ Producers Share How Celebrity Relatives Are Selected for the Show

'Claim to Fame' contestants must have a close celebrity relative, but that's not the only thing producers are looking for when they cast the show.

Can you guess the celebrity relative? ABC’s Claim to Fame challenges participants – and viewers – to discover the identity of cast members’ famous kin.

Each contestant must use clues scattered around their shared house to ferret out other players’ star relatives. At the same time, they must keep their own identities a secret while also completing challenges that could win them immunity from elimination.

Past Claim to Fame participants have included KeKe Palmer’s sister Loreal Chanel Palmer, who won season 1, and Nick Cannon’s brother Gabriel Ezra Cannon, who bested the competition in season 2. Other contestants have included the sister of Olympian Simone Biles, Donny Osmond’s lookalike son, and – infamously – Tom Hanks’ niece.

So, what does it take to get cast on Claim to Fame? It turns out, just having a celebrity connection isn’t enough.

‘Claim to Fame’ cast members must be closely related to their celebrity

Is Madonna your third cousin twice removed? That might be a fun fact to share at parties, but it’s not enough to get you the attention of Claim to Fame producers.

“Distant or far-removed relatives (such as second cousins and beyond) are not considered,” Claim to Fame executive producers Eric Detwiler and Scott Teti told People in 2023.

All prospective Claim to Fame cast members should be closely related to a celebrity, usually by blood. That typically means having a famous parent or grandparent, sibling, aunt or uncle, or cousin. However, sometimes, someone who is related to a celeb by marriage is cast. That was the cast with Carly from season 2, who was related to Hanks through her aunt Rita Wilson.

While a close celebrity connection is key, that person doesn’t have to be living. For example, Pepper Martin from season 1 is the granddaughter of Rat Pack icon Dean Martin, who died in 1995.

Prospective contestants must complete a lengthy application

Having a close relative who is a celebrity is just the first step to getting onto the show. The Claim to Fame casting application asks prospective contestants dozens of questions, many related to their relationship with the celebrity, including:

• “Describe your relationship with your celebrity relative. How close are you? How often do you see each other?”
• “Tell us about the best memory you have with your famous family member.”
• “Have you ever tried to pursue the same or similar career as your famous family member?”
• “How is your personality similar or different from that of your famous relative?”

‘Claim to Fame’ producers also seek out participants

People can apply to be on Claim to Fame. But producers also proactively seek out potential contestants in order to assemble a group with a diverse array of celeb connections (and to avoid any chance of cast members having crossed paths outside of the show).

There are “different buckets that we’re interested in,” Detwiler told Parade. “We know we’re going to need some actors and some musicians and some athletes and wouldn’t it be great to have a historical figure or a political figure or an author? What’s some kind of wild card category and then we might get specific with her. Wouldn’t it be great to have the relative of a former U.S. president?”

“[F]rom there we do some pretty direct research, trying to dig in to find out who those people are and who might have a willingness to participate in the show and who might have the best personality to be on the show,” he said.

All cast members are required to pass a background check

As with most reality shows, people who make it through the initial screening process must pass a background check to make sure they’re a good fit for TV.

“Once the pool of potential contestants are whittled down by producers, the lucky individuals who are selected to advance in the casting process must clear background checks, as well as both medical and psychological evaluations by licensed medical providers, before they are permitted to film,” Detwiler and Teti explained to People.

Claim to Fame Season 3 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

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