Aunt of 'Claim to Fame' 'maniacal mastermind' Miguel is a real scream

We hardly knew ye, Miguel. Or should we say Raphael.

The player known as Miguel, who seemed to be the most committed “Claim to Fame” contestant in three seasons of ABC’s summer series (9 EDT/PDT), exited the game Wednesday. After his team lost the dreaded telephone-game challenge, in which a long and confusing limerick is told over and over again, Miguel was voted in as guesser.

In a decision that shocked his fellow participants, Miguel chose to guess the celebrity relative of Dedrick, who just last week helped Miguel fool the housemates into thinking he shared a bloodline with actor Antonio Banderas. Naomi might've said it best this episode: "Miguel is a maniacal mastermind."

Miguel tells USA TODAY the choice to guess Dedrick's kin was "a difficult decision because I was immediately so drawn to Dedrick, just his personality, his attitude about things. He was super cool, super outgoing, super chill, family man, upstanding dude. I respect him a lot.

"The reason I made that decision was because I knew it was going to be more difficult" later. "So I purposely ripped off the Band-Aid early to spare myself from feeling worse about it than I could have."

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Miguel incorrectly identified Dedrick’s kin as the late musician Little Richard, born Richard Wayne Penniman. (Clues instead seem to associate Dedrick with Michael Jackson.)

The wrong guess exposed Miguel to his castmates as Raphael Miguel Curtis, nephew of the scream queen of “Halloween,” Jamie Lee Curtis.

“She has been the saving grace for these past two years," Raphael, 21, told his fellow contestants of his famous relative. "Ever since my mom (Allegra Curtis) ended up in the hospital, she's been doing nothing but taking care of me and her financially, especially when it came down to some very, very, very difficult times. She is such an incredible, incredible aunt, and I could not wish for anyone better in my life.”

Raphael reveals where he and Dedrick stand today, his strategy going into the house and whether he plans to break into the family business. (Edited for length and clarity.)

Question: When you got the opportunity to be on the show, did you discuss it with your aunt?

Raphael Curtis: I didn't really ask for permission. I just kind of did it because I was presented with the opportunity. (When we talked) she was supportive of the prospect. She was definitely really cool about it.

Did she have any advice for you?

She just said, "Keep it professional. Keep it honest. Don't try and fabricate anything and just be yourself."

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What was your strategy going into the house? What kind of game did you think that you were going to play?

It was definitely along the lines of, portray yourself as a little more emotional than usual, a little more anxious than usual and a little more gullible and young than I actually am. Because I wanted expectations of me to be a little lower so that people would underestimate me, so that I would have an easier time shocking people when I actually do pull something out of my sleeve.

What aspect did you find most challenging?

Just as a natural born introvert, it was just being around strangers and having to stay in a house I wasn't familiar with and having the cameras on me.

Have you and Dedrick made amends?

Oh yeah, everything is completely copacetic. Everyone loves each other. We've all told each other, "It's all good. Whatever happened, don't worry about it. No hard feelings." We were all there to compete against each other. So let's not pretend that we purposely tried to hurt each other.

You’re the nephew of Jamie Lee Curtis and also the grandson of Tony Curtis ("Spartacus," "Some Like It Hot"). He died before you were born, but has that had an impact on your life?

It has. I've always wanted to be like him. I've always wanted to follow in his footsteps. Admittedly, it is difficult to hold myself up to that same light because of how successful and how incredible of a person he was. But I hold him in super high regards.

I do have aspirations of stepping into some sort of career, definitely something creative. I've always considered acting. I've never gone to school for it, though.

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