'Claim to Fame': Danny Talks Hiding His Famous Family Member's Identity After Shocking Reveal (Exclusive)

The 'Claim to Fame' Season 3 competitor had his true identity revealed in the Aug. 14 episode of the ABC show.

By Anna Rumer

Claim to Fame Season 3 is keeping the legendary celebrity relative reveals coming! After being sent packing during Wednesday's episode of the ABC competition show, which tasks celebrity family members with guessing one another's identity while keeping their own secret, Danny opened up to PopCulture.com about his famous uncle and "honest" gameplay.

Danny's game came to an end in the Aug. 14 episode of Claim to Fame as he was voted to become the guesser. Danny and his ally Shane felt confident that Mackenzie was related to country star Blake Shelton, but when the guess ended up being incorrect, Danny's famous family member was exposed instead. Despite keeping the house guessing all season, Danny, whose real name is Nael Zayas, was revealed to be the nephew of Grammy-winning singer Marc Anthony.

DANNY, MACKENZIE
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Danny incorrectly guessed Mackenzie was related to Blake Shelton in the Aug. 14 episode of Claim to Fame.

- Disney/Christopher Willard)

Despite not knowing much about country music, Nael thought he had a "good shot" at guessing Mackenzie's relative. "I really don't know much about country singers, but I knew Blake Shelton was tall," he explained. "I didn't know how tall but I thought I had a good chance at guessing her celebrity." 

Learning later how intentional Mackenzie had been about misdirecting the house toward Shelton being her relative, Nael confessed the "God's Country" artist is really the "only country singer" he knew, "so he pretty much was my first and last choice regardless of what Mack was doing."

DANNY
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Danny was revealed to be the nephew of Marc Anthony.

- Disney/Christopher Willard)

While his guess was revealed to be incorrect, Nael had "no regrets," saying, "I feel like I played the game well until then and I just went with my gut." Seeing the shock on his fellow players' faces when Anthony was revealed to be his famous relative gave Nael a "sense of relief and pride" that he was able to fool everyone as long as he did with his own misdirect toward the world of professional wrestling. 

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When it comes to his time on TV, Nael's famous uncle has always been supportive of his nephew, advising him throughout his career to be professional and his "honest self," both of which he hoped showed in how he played Claim to Fame. "I think I played an honest and smart game," he continued. "I helped people when I could and I think everyone appreciated that. Maybe that's one of the reasons I lasted so long."

Claim to Fame (produced by Kinetic Content) airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on TLC.

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