How ‘Claim to Fame’ Landed Jonas Brothers and Covered Premiere Twist – The Hollywood Reporter

How ‘Claim to Fame’ Landed Jonas Brothers and Covered Premiere Twist – The Hollywood Reporter

After living a lifetime in the shadows of their celebrities, 12 individuals are finally ready to establish their own identities with ABC‘s new summer unscripted series Claim to fame

Sourced from Kinetic Content, the production company behind shows like Married at first sight and petite womenClaim to fame debuts July 11 after the bachelorette† Adding elements of pop culture and mystery to a format that will be familiar to fans of Big Brother, the series focuses on a home of a dozen people who each have a famous relative; the contestants try to guess who everyone else is related to and avoid weekly eliminations to win the $100,000 prize.

The series is co-hosted by Kevin Jonas, who rose to fame at a young age as part of his family’s band, The Jonas Brothers, and Frankie Jonas, who is not in the band but has more recently found a following on TikTok. Trailers have revealed that the contestants’ relatives are Zendaya, Simone Biles and Whoopi Goldberg.

“They are such wonderful hosts,” said Kinetic founder Chris Coelen, an executive producer on the series The Hollywood Reporter about the Jonases. “I guess you’d expect this, but they have a great chemistry. They just really enjoyed the game and the fun of it. Some of it is kismet, right? They fit the show’s conceit for obvious reasons. .”

Lazy Loaded Image

Hosts Kevin and Frankie Jonas introduce the 12 famous family members who will live under one roof and hide their identities and origins in the quest for the coveted $100,000 prize.
John Fleenor/ABC

Coelen’s company has had recent success streaming shows, including those from Netflix Love is blind and The Ultimatum, but he sees this one as suitable for broadcast, although he feels it also has binge-worthy elements. †Love is blind or The Ultimatum We have a huge commitment to these people participating, in a very meaningful, real way, but at the same time there’s a lot of humor and fun and joy in those shows,” he says. †Claim to fame is a show where the stakes really aren’t that high, and people just sit back and enjoy. But at the same time, there are a lot of exciting things that people as spectators can sink their teeth into, and I love that.”

The premiere episode’s biggest surprise comes towards the end, when a contestant is suddenly booted from the show after the production discovers that the person has broken the rules by surreptitiously using their phone in the house. “That was a complete, out-of-left-field shock that that happened,” admits Coelen. “It was an on-the-fly decision. I got a call from ‘What should we do?’ And I was like, ‘Look, the rules are the rules, at the end of the day.’”

Ultimately, the show is an addictive summer treat that also tells you something about influencer culture, what makes someone relevant and the nature of identity. “Some people feel like they’re being eclipsed by someone they’re connected to who’s accomplished more than they have, and other people find a way to use that to their advantage — and for other people, it’s irrelevant,” he says. cool. “That’s one of the things that’s really nice about the show. It shows us what’s going on in our culture.”

Claim to fame premieres Monday at 10 p.m. on ABC.