Warning: This post contains spoilers for Claim to Fame season 2, episode 7.
The cast of Claim to Fame season 2 is making some lasting connections.
Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE about his recent elimination on Monday night, Hugo revealed that he’s dating his costar Olivia.
While Hugo opened up about being former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s grandson during the Aug. 7 episode, Olivia was revealed to be Jenny McCarthy‘s niece the episode prior.
“It’s amazing,” Hugo tells PEOPLE about his relationship with Olivia, who uses they/she pronouns. “Olivia’s the best. I literally love Olivia. It’s crazy I got to meet them on that show.”
Hugo reveals that after meeting on the show, they ended up realizing they had a lot in common and connected off screen. “After [the show] we linked up and it’s just been great.”
ABC/Gizelle Hernandez)
Hugo isn’t the only person who made a connection on the show. Earlier in the season, Cole and Shayne had a brief flirtation that ended with a surprising twist when the former sent Shayne home in a shocking elimination ceremony. However, they both told PEOPLE that there are “no hard feelings” between them.
Hugo adds that the entire cast became really close-knit while filming. “A big part of the show was just finding all these different people, different interests, different life stories, different backgrounds, different personalities, and then by the end, I just felt like we were literally a family,” he says, paralleling how his grandfather — who was admitted to hospice care in February — stood for those same things when he ran for president.
“He was all about everyone being equal, just trying to love everyone as much you can, just keeping people close,” he says about his grandfather, who he gave a touching tribute to during his elimination ceremony.
“Part of my goal during the speech was to represent that and just talk about how much I love every single person.”
ABC/John Fleenor
The emotional speech clearly moved his costars, who all joined in a group hug with Hugo afterward. “I felt like our relationships kind of transcended the show at that point,” Hugo says of the sweet moment.
“I really felt like that with every single person there — everyone there I loved,” he adds. “It was great to be on that emotional wavelength with everyone and just be expressing love after all that craziness that we had gone through. We’d seen people at their limit, everyone pushed themselves through the show. It was great to just be in that moment and just love everyone.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Claim to Fame airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on ABC.
Read more
