[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers through Claim to Fame Season 2 Episode 8.]
Claim to Fame comes to a close on Monday, August 28. The two-hour Season 2 finale will reveal who walks away with the $100,000. Episode 9 kicks off at 9/8c on ABC and will send one of the final four packing before Episode 10 crowns the winner. Will it be Karsyn, Monay, Chris, or Gabriel who walks away victorious? Let’s look at their performances throughout the season.
Gabriel is the clear front runner, as he’s won the most challenges and his pop culture knowledge seems to run deepest out of everyone in the final four. Monay has been a strong theorist throughout the season, but she did think Hugo’s Elton John theory held weight. Gabriel, on the other hand, didn’t buy into that idea and was the only one who got close to deciphering the true meaning of Chris’s clues.
Chris’s relative, if you haven’t figured it out yet, is undoubtedly Donny Osmond. The “Puppy Love” and teen idol in the ’70s bottle clue was a clear hint for anyone with Osmond knowledge, but luckily for Chris, that’s something this young cast lacks. On top of the other clues pointing to Donny, Chris is a dead ringer for his dad. (See a breakdown of all of Chris’s clues this season here.)
Earlier in the season, when Monay and other players were thinking the “colorful coat” clue could be referencing John or Billy Idol, Gabriel unknowingly made the correct connection between the “colorful coat” and the Biblical story it’s referencing. It’s a tie to Joseph and the coat of many colors from the Bible, which serves as the basis of the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Donny starred as Joseph in the 1999 film and also played the character on-stage. If Gabriel can connect more Donny dots in Episode 9 or 10, that could be his winning ticket, provided that no one eliminates him first.
While many guesses have been made about Chris, no one has come close to revealing Gabriel and Monay’s relatives. We believe that Gabriel is Nick Cannon‘s brother and that Monay’s father is J.B. Smoove. The Drumline and 10 babies clues point to Cannon’s film career and his famously high number of children (notably, Cannon has 12 children, and Shayne’s father, Eddie Murphy, has 10, but we think Gabriel’s bottle clue probably just couldn’t fit 12 baby emojis on it). There have also been several Masked Singer clues, which could apply to both Olivia’s relative, Jenny McCarthy (a panelist on the show), or Cannon (its host).
The biggest tells about Monay’s claim to fame are that the person is a comedian who has been on Saturday Night Live and Curb Your Enthusiasm. SNL alum Jay Pharaoh does a great Smoove impression that he showed off in the “Bern Your Enthusiasm” SNL sketch in 2016, so that could be a solid theory. But the fact that another clue said her relative was in Spider-Man: Far From Home confirms to us that Smoove is her claim to fame.
Most everyone in the cast has known who Karsyn is related to for several episodes now. Once they knew it wasn’t Jeff Gordon (Olivia was eliminated for guessing that name), they all became convinced her relative was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The NASCAR clues got them to these names. Karsyn hasn’t been a big Guess-Off target for the contestants since Olivia was sent home, indicating that they don’t view her as much of a threat. It seems it could just be a matter of time before Karsyn is eliminated.
Gabriel and Monay share one major plus on their resumes: neither of them have been chosen for hot spot in the guess-off. Chris, on the other hand, has been sent to the Guess-Off three times. Everyone who has tried to send Chris home has failed, making him a difficult player to beat. But he hasn’t been the season’s best theorist, nor has Karsyn. Gabriel and Monay have displayed deeper pop culture knowledge than their competitors.
Who wins Claim to Fame Season 2 will come down to their performances in the final two challenges. These challenges could reveal clues that take even the strongest of players out, so we’ll have to see which player’s memory, knowledge, and deciphering skills serve them best in the final episodes.
Based on all of the above, who do you think should win Claim to Fame Season 2? Cast your vote in the poll below.
Claim to Fame, Season 2 Finale, Monday, August 28, 9/8c, ABC