Warning: This article contains spoilers for Claim to Fame, season 2, episode 10, "Needle in a Haystack."
After dominating challenges and fooling his housemates into thinking he was related to a star athlete, Claim to Fame's Gabriel was named the celebrity relative guessing game's season 2 winner and revealed as the brother of The Masked Singer host Nick Cannon.
In his exit interview following Monday's finale, Gabriel Cannon tells EW why his famous sibling had a change of heart about him being on the show, talks about sharing a scene with runner-up Monay's dad, J.B. Smoove, as a teen, and reveals that he just uses Google to remember the names of all of Nick's 12 kids. Plus, the charismatic competitor says he's ready to give his big bro a run for his money: "Pass the torch a little bit, Nick. Let me host. Let me get my feet wet. You're about 20 years in!"
Read on for our full interview and see who everyone on Claim to Fame season 2 was related to here.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you decide to lean into pretending you were related to a famous athlete?
GABRIEL CANNON: My strategy going in pretending I was related to an athlete was mainly because of my stature. Like I said in one of the earlier episodes, I was happy this time that I didn't look like Nick. Trying to get in the club, it's a little hard.
What did your brother say when you told him you were doing the show?
Nick was kind of skeptical about it. He wanted to know more and know what it was. I think he secretly went off and watched the first season because his mood switched about it. [He learned that] it wasn't me putting out his dirty laundry. I know there was one scene when I did, but, you know, it wasn't messy. So he kind of gave it his cosign. [He told me,] "It's your time. Go get 'em."
Has he been watching? Has he said anything to you about it?
He said something when it first premiered and I've kind of just been in my dungeon since then, but he was excited. He wanted to tweet about it.… [I said,] "No man, you gotta keep silent about it, but pay attention to your boy because I've done a good job for you."
Did you reveal to him that you win?
Yeah. Nick is one of those sugar babies, like Nick eats candy all day long. So when you're around him, he's moving. So it's like when somebody asks you 47,000 times like, "Man, you gotta tell me. I'm the reason you're on the show." You gotta.… For a long time, it's hard for somebody to be proud of somebody other than Nick. He's doing so much. He's on such a level and it's like, to see him just genuinely proud of me, I felt like a little kid, like I graduated.
You and Chris had a partnership until the blow-up after he immediately showed your clue to Karsyn. Were you surprised that he got so upset when you called him pampered during that argument?
I'm not really surprised that Chris got that upset. I'm the middle child of four brothers so we mastered the art of poking.… I did take it a little personal when it came to me on the chopping block. Chris is amazing, man. I love Chris. I wasn't shocked. I was doing things too, you know. If he would have got up and just left, I would have looked like a big old cry baby and like Chris was a bigger man. So I had to do something, like, no, come here, Chris, you gotta give me a little bit more.
Did you feel any difference between people who grew up with famous parents vs. people in the house with relatives who got famous after growing up with them?
I can say I've seen a difference between, I don't know if this makes sense, old money and new money. I've seen a difference between some people whose relatives just kind of recently got famous and people who kind of sat in it and kind of live their life this way. I've definitely seen a difference in that. You could tell if somebody been around set before. But for me, I was disguised as a football player.… Some people wanted to be in the entertainment world [after the show] and I'm like, all right, man, you better be cool with production and being on set, [but] you're not gonna listen to me if you think I'm in the sports world not knowing that this kid grew up in Hollywood also.
How did you end up figuring out Monay in the end?
I kind of had a hunch. When they mentioned Saturday Night Live and Curb Your Enthusiasm, it kind of was a small pool and it was only a few names that could have fit in there. So J.B. was always in my mind floating and, in hindsight, my brother and J.B. Smoove did a lot of work together. I actually did a skit where I was freestyle battling a puppet and J.B. Smoove was the voice of the puppet. Not on set together, he had pre-recorded it in the studio and we went on set and shot it, but we had his voice in playback. I was probably 17 and for me it was a big deal. That's J.B. Smoove!
Since they brought up so many clues about it, have you met and can you name all of Nick's 12 kids?
I haven't met them, but did y'all see what happened with him? He messed up [naming] all his kids, so I'm not even gonna attempt. I'm just uncle. It's easy.
Do you have a note in your phone to remind yourself just in case?
That or Google. They're all on the internet.
Are you going to pursue more in the entertainment industry?
I would love to. Like I said, I had a front row seat to the entertainment industry just watching Nick. I was a guy shooting behind the scenes for him, when he pulled up on set, I gotta get it with a camera, when he leaves, I gotta get him pulling off, and, you know, always had a backpack full of my own scripts and ideas. But it was always about big bro and helping build windows in his castle. For the last few years I've been in the community working. Before that I was signed to Death Jam in a group called Rydaz n Rtist, it's supposed to be like writers and artist, and we went on tour with Mariah [Carey, Cannon's ex-wife]. We've had an amazing experience. I couldn't pay for the experience. So yeah, definitely picking the music back up. But I think hosting for me. It's crazy to be able to watch yourself on TV for 10 episodes and to be able to critique yourself.… I wanna host some game shows. ABC, man, I wanna host on Times Square, man. When the ball drops, baby, I'm outside. Let's go get it.
Nick can't host them all. Are we going to see you co-host together?
It'll be beautiful. We can start co-hosting together. Pass the torch a little bit, Nick. Let me host. Let me get my feet wet. You're about 20 years in!
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
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