Who Is Hud from 'Claim to Fame' Related To?: An Investigation

Step aside Sherlock Holmes! This season, I will be doing my darnedest to figure out the secret identities of the Claim to Fame contestants. The show's premise is simple enough: eleven contestants enter a Hollywood mansion, each is related to a A-list celebrity. The person who can keep their relative's identity a secret for the longest wins!

Related: Claim to Fame Producer Answers All Our Behind-the-Scenes Questions (Exclusive)

As I'm watching each week, I'll be cataloging the information we learn along the way and attempting to piece together the clues to determine the relative of each contestant. Spoilers for all episodes that have aired in the main post, plus a separate spoilers section for what internet sleuths have discovered outside the show. Here's everything we have learned about Hud and my predictions:

Who is Hud's Claim to Fame celebrity relative?

Episode 2 clues

Naomi pulled Hud's wine cellar clue this week, which means we got a lot of information. His clue read: cherries + bomb + artist + owl with a speech bubble + broken knee + needle & thread + thumbs up. I would venture a guess that the first part of this message is "cherry bomb artist."

Also this week we got the canoeing challenge clues, one of which is the word "jubilee." John Cougar Mellancamp released an album called The Lonesome Jubilee with a single "Cherry Bomb" on it so it seems likely that that's Hud's relative.

Episode 1 clues

Two truths and a lie:

My celebrity relative is my: MOM
My celebrity relative is best known for being an: SINGER
The biggest award my celebrity relative has won: GRAMMY

Outside of those, Hud flew under the radar this episode.

The other contestants' best guess

Cherie Currie

Based on the "cherry bomb artist" clue, Naomi seems convinced that Hud is related to the The Runaways band member. She's also lined up some twin-related clues based on the fact that Currie had a twin.

Parade 's prediction for celebrity relative

John Cougar Mellancamp

Based on the "Cherry Bomb" and "Jubilee" clues, it seems extremely likely that Hud is related to John Cougar Mellancamp. Stand by for a "Jack and Diane" clue to be able to put all the pieces together.

INTERNET SPOILERS

While not based on information from the show, sleuths on the internet have, of course, been able to sniff out the identities of most of the cast using Instagram, news articles, old yearbooks, birth records, chatroom gossip, etc. Below is what they've uncovered.

Based on plenty of online evidence and explainers , its pretty easy to see that Hud is the son of John Cougar Mellancamp.

Claim to Fame airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

Next, Everything You Need to Know About Claim to Fame Season 3