[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Claim to Fame Season 2 finale.]
Countless theories, scores of challenges, and one massive meltdown later, we now know who wins Claim to Fame Season 2. Hosted by Kevin Jonas and Franklin Jonas, the reality competition series’ second installment came to a close in a two-hour finale on Monday, August 28, on ABC, and at long last, players remembered the Osmonds exist, bringing a merciful end to the inexplicable season-long stumper.
Secrets were made even more impossible to keep through the Episode 9 challenge, which had the final four moving clues to their applicable player’s columns. Most notably, this challenge revealed the cast had fallen for Gabriel’s lies about his claim to fame’s profession. With clues about The Masked Singer, drumming, Zoe Saldaña, and having 11 children, it was obvious his family member wasn’t an athlete. Monay told the cameras she figured out Gabriel’s secret, but she kept it to herself and let Karsyn and Chris sweat it out with their incorrect theories.
Chris’s four clues were “the seventh son,” “music,” “Dancing With the Stars,” and Lucille Ball, which all apply to Donny Osmond (Osmond appeared on Here’s Lucy in the ’70s and is the youngest of the seven Osmond siblings). Karsyn’s sports, “Junebug,” and Talladega Nights clues further confirmed the theory that her relative is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. But it wouldn’t be until the eliminated cast members returned to the mansion in Episode 10 that someone would catch onto the J.B. Smoove/Monay theory.
Gabriel became the guesser in Episode 9, accurately guessing that Karsyn’s claim to fame is the NASCAR star. Earnhardt is Karsyn’s uncle, and he sent her a supportive video to be played after her elimination.
ABC/John Fleenor
The final challenge of Season 2 gave the episode its title. In “Needle In a Haystack,” Chris, Monay, and Gabriel formed teams with the eliminated contestants who helped them search for clues in haystacks. Given that three contestants brought Chris to the Guess-Off and failed, figuring out his identity could have been someone’s ticket to winning. Donny finally came up as a possibility, with Monay and Gabriel collaborating on that theory. And Chris’s clue in the challenge locked it in for them.
Each player was represented by one clue in the haystacks. The teams had to uncover each one, and the final three had to place the clues in the correct order of when its corresponding player was eliminated. There were three starred spaces at the end of the line meant for the final three, and winning the challenge required putting your clue in the correct spot as well. A Donny and Marie Osmond lunchbox made everything click for Monay, who later shared her theory with challenge winner Gabriel. (Gabriel’s clue was a black turban, Monay’s a pair of gold Caesar feather glasses.)
Earlier in the episode, all of the players sat poolside to reconnect and share their theories. It was here where Jada, with the knowledge of clues revealed after her departure, figured out Chris’s claim to fame. She sided with Chris in talks with other players, however, keeping his identity a secret. Shayne was the only person to name J.B. Smoove as a possibility for Monay. Her father being Eddie Murphy, it’s no surprise she’s well-versed in famous comedians and the cast of Curb Your Enthusiasm. She clued JR into her theory, but she wouldn’t help Gabriel. The challenge helped Gabriel on this front, however.
Having won the challenge, Gabriel got to choose the final guessers. He opted for Monay to guess against Chris, choosing to trust her Osmond theory. It paid off: Monay was correct in guessing that Chris is Donny’s son. That left Gabriel and Monay as the final two, with Gabriel as the guesser. Gabriel accurately named J.B. Smoove as Monay’s claim to fame, making him the winner of Season 2!
ABC/John Fleenor
Monay’s real name is Jerrica Monay Brooks. She’s the daughter of the comedian, who also sent in a sweet video for his daughter. After Gabriel’s win, there was only one celebrity left to reveal. After clinching the $100,000 prize, Gabriel’s claim to fame, Nick Cannon, was unveiled. The Masked Singer host is Gabriel’s big brother.
The winner’s full name is Gabriel Cannon, whose big bro’s career (especially the film Drumline hinted at in his clues) changed his life. Remember when Gabriel said his relative gave matching jewelry to all of his baby mamas? That was a major clue hiding in plain sight!
It seems Monay had figured out Gabriel’s identity. Had she won the challenge, it very well could have been her walking away victorious. Gabriel won the most challenges out of every player this season with five, and Chris was the player to beat with his hard-to-guess relative. Do you think the right player won? Let us know in the comments below.