‘Claim to Fame’s Bianca Shares How Aunt Robin Roberts Supported Her Reality TV Adventure (Exclusive)

Bianca Roberts’ time on Claim to Fame may have ended in just the first episode of Season 3, but the niece of Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts had her famous family member behind her the whole way. Following her elimination on Wednesday’s Season 3 premiere of the ABC series, Bianca opened up to PopCulture.com about her relationship with her aunt and her regrets in the Claim to Fame house.

Claim to Fame is the ultimate test of celebrity family members, as the players attempt to keep their own famous relations a secret while putting together clues about their competitors. For Bianca, who watched both of the previous seasons of the competition show, it was a fun way for her to “do something outside of my comfort zone” and something her aunt fully supported. 

“I had a few short conversations describing the show to my Aunt Robin,” Bianca told PopCulture, “and she immediately gave me her blessing and said, ‘Go for it!’” As the famous broadcaster’s first-born niece, Bianca said she has a “special bond” with her aunt, who has been rooting for her her whole life. 

“And our birthdays are only 5 days apart so my grandma would throw joint birthday parties for us back in the day,” Bianca recalled, joking that “even though we aren’t having joint birthday parties these days, we still have a great relationship and I can text or call her anytime.” 

Robin even left a heartfelt video message for her niece that had Bianca “a little choked up” during her elimination at the end of the season premiere. Bianca’s fate on Claim to Fame was brought about not by her fellow competitors guessing her famous family member, but by her incorrectly suggesting that Shane was related to Forest Whitaker, having narrowly been chosen as the guesser against Miguel. 

“I wasn’t confident at all for the final reveal,” Bianca said of her guess about Shane’s relative, calling it a “complete wild guess.” By the time she learned it would be her going home at the end of the night, she said she “was at peace with it.” After hosts Kevin and Frankie Jonas revealed the true identity of Bianca’s aunt, her fellow contestants were shocked, and Bianca told PopCulture she felt like she would have been able to keep her famous relative a secret for “much longer” had she not eliminated herself.

“Going in I thought I was going to be able to play up being a mom figure to the contestants to get some intel on them,” she explained of her initial strategy, noting that looking back, “I probably would have tried a little harder to plead my case to everyone after the talent show.” She continued, “Begging to be kept on the show looks like it proved to work out well for others. But honestly, that just didn’t feel authentic to who I am.”

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