Claim to Fame: Tom Hank's niece explodes in an un-Tom-like reaction

Carly Reeves holding a champagne glass in Claim to Fame season 2 episode 1
Carly Reeves on Claim to Fame (Image credit: ABC/John Fleenor)

With the summer TV lineup in full swing, Claim to Fame season 2 made its debut on ABC. The show has amassed loyal fans who enjoy playing detective in trying to unearth the closely guarded secret as to the identity of the famous relative of each contestant; and making these guesses as it pertains to the Claim to Fame season 2 contestants is remarkably harder than it was during the show’s inaugural run last year. 

As expected in the season 2 premiere, the contestants spent time getting acquainted with one another and playing games, subtly dropping clues or lies in the process. However, by the conclusion of the episode, Carly Reeves found herself in the hot seat facing elimination with fellow contestant Hugo left to correctly identify her famous family member. 

Unfortunately for her, on the Claim to Fame Clue Wall was a picture of a park bench, which made Hugo immediately think of the iconic movie Forrest Gump. He correctly guessed that Reeves was related to Oscar-winner Tom Hanks, sending Reeves home from the competition. But rather than walk away from the competition with style and class, which Hanks has without question earned a reputation in Hollywood for having, Reeves completely unleashed her fury. 

She broke down in tears and walked to her room to pack her things, she literally screamed and complained about the clues offered on her celebrity family tie were too easy, especially the picture of the Forrest Gump park bench. She kept saying "Why a bench, why a bench?" Reeves went as far as to state it was so easy that even one of her fellow contestants was able to guess her secret and he's "not even that smart." Her castmates listened on completely shocked. 

Take a look at the meltdown below. 

For those wondering, Reeves sat down with Entertainment Weekly to discuss her reaction to being eliminated and stated the following:

"Yeah, I was really upset. I think I overreacted a little bit, but I'm an emotional, very dramatic person. I was really angry that I didn't get a chance to play as long as some of the other contestants. I mean, there was no one to be angry at. I was just angry in general at myself, and at the fact that I was going home."

Claim to Fame fans react to Carly's tantrum

Again, the other Claim to Fame contestants weren't the only ones shocked by Reeves' outburst. Check out some of the fan reactions from Twitter. 

Claim to Fame season 2 continues to air new episodes on Mondays on ABC. Episodes become available to stream on Hulu

Terrell Smith

Terrell Smith has a diverse writing background having penned material for a wide array of clients including the federal government and Bravo television personalities.  When he’s not writing as Terrell, he’s writing under his pseudonym Tavion Scott, creating scripts for his audio drama podcasts. Terrell is a huge fan of great storytelling when it comes to television and film. Some of his favorite shows include The CrownWandaVision, Abbot Elementary and Godfather of HarlemAnd a fun fact is he's completely dialed into the TLC 90 Day Fiancé universe.