Dara Ó Briain hails viral Claim to Fame tantrum as ‘greatest TV moment ever’

Carly Reeves has amassed new online fans after her dramatic departure from celebrity family game show

Irish comedian and TV presenter Dara Ó Briain has led reactions to an astonishing viral clip showing Carly Reeves, the niece of Hollywood actors Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks, having a tantrum on new gameshow Claim to Fame.

The ABC series, hosted by brothers Kevin and Frankie Jonas, sees members of the public complete tasks in order to work out which celebrity the other is connected with, in the hopes of winning a $100,000 (£78,000) cash prize.

Reeves was identified as the niece of the Forrest Gump star on Monday night’s episode (26 June). She is the familial niece of actor Rita Wilson, who has been married to Hanks since 1988.

Sadly for Reeves, she didn’t take her loss well and exited the show in a whirlwind of screams and expletives, apparently aggrieved at how “easy” she believed the clues were.

“Oh my God, this is the greatest television moment (relative to how low the stakes are, a competition for celebrity relatives) ever,” O’Briain tweeted with the viral clip.

At one point during the scene, Reeves declared that she “should have had more airtime” and expressed her frustration with a bench being given as a clue for her famous relative.

“His freakin’ clues are so freakin’ obvious! There’s literally no reference to benches on any other movie,” she shouted, while packing her things in the contestants’ bedroom. She was referring to Hanks’s role in Forrest Gump, in which his character Forrest recounts his life story to strangers while sitting on a bench, waiting for a bus.

“Even [fellow contestant] Gabriel found that out. He’s not even, like, smart,” Reeves added, to the shock of the remaining competitors, apparently not knowing or caring that they could still hear her.

Carly Reeves and Tom Hanks (ABC / Getty)

“This has to be one of the best tantrums in reality tv history, right?! #ClaimtoFame making it into the books tonight!” one fan wrote.

Reeves’s dramatic off-camera screech is one of the most notable parts of the clip, with some fans replaying that specific moment. One response says: “I’m literally obsessed with Carly’s blood-curdling scream. It’s so camp I can’t stop listening to it.”

“Watching Tom Hanks’s niece throw a s**t fit about not getting enough camera time after getting eliminated first in a reality show feels so fitting for the simulation that is 2023,” reads another comment.

Elsewhere, others have joked that Reeves has achieved enough notoriety with this moment to become more famous than Hanks.

One tweet reads: “I heard a rumour Tom Hanks is appearing in the next season with his Claim to Fame being that he's her uncle.”