Olivia’s Claim to Fame journey came to an abrupt end Monday night when an incorrect guess pegging Jeff Gordon as Karsyn’s celebrity relative sent Olivia packing instead – revealing that they are the niece of none other than actor and comedian Jenny McCarthy. Following Olivia’s elimination, the tattoo artist opened up to PopCulture.com about their “life of the party” aunt and the error that sent them packing.
Olivia (who uses they/them pronouns), had a path to the end in the house, with Frankie and Kevin Jonas polling the rest of the competitors following Olivia’s elimination only to discover no one had any idea they were related to The Masked Singer judge. “Honestly, I went into the guess-off with 50% confidence in my guess, so I wasn’t surprised to see it turn red,” Olivia told PopCulture of being eliminated. “But I was definitely disappointed.”
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Going into Claim to Fame, Survivor fan Olivia was up for the challenge of taking on a “similar-ish” experience to see what kind of strategies they could improve on. Watching the first season of Claim to Fame though, they realized they had “a lot of work to do pop culture-wise” when it came to guessing their housemates’ identities. “I don’t follow many celebrities and tend to be bad at names, so I knew the pop culture part of this show would be a challenge for me,” they said.
Regardless of the challenges ahead, McCarthy was 100% supportive of Olivia’s Claim to Fame journey. “She was excited for me! She thought it was a fun opportunity and encouraged me to take it when I was a little wary at first,” Olivia shared, adding, “She told me to be myself and to kick ass.” Not only is McCarthy an “amazing aunt,” Olivia praised the former Playboy model as an “incredible human being” overall. “She is such an understanding and resilient mother, a kind and considerate sister, and a supportive daughter,” Olivia gushed. “She has such a welcoming and kind energy and is always the life of the party.”
Following in McCarthy’s footsteps, Olivia said they don’t have any regrets about playing a game to be proud of while staying “kind and considerate” to the other players. With Season 2 of Claim to Fame winding down, only Chris, Gabriel, Hugo, Monay, JR and Karsyn remain in the race for the grand prize. Claim to Fame airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
