Carly Reeves has said that her uncle Tom Hanks had a "funny and cute" response to her meltdown on Claim to Fame, after her departure from the ABC show went viral.
The reality TV star, 39, has attracted attention over her dramatic exit from the new season of the show, in which contestants compete to win $100,000 (around £80,000).
The contestants - who are all related to celebrities - live together in a home that features clues about their relatives and whoever conceals their identity for the longest wins.
The season two premiere last week saw Carly correctly identified as related to actor Tom, 66, as she's the niece of his wife Rita Wilson, 66. It meant that she was eliminated.
She was seen screaming and crying as she prepared to leave, saying: "His freakin' clues are so freakin' obvious. [...] I didn't even get to do any challenges! [...] I don't deserve this. I should have more camera time. I should be here longer."
Asked about her family's reaction to the scene, she told us: "After the episode aired, and all this publicity came out about it, I believe Tom probably saw what he needed to see."
Carly continued during our recent interview with her: "I was like 'did you watch it?' and he said 'just enough'. I'm sure that meant that he just saw the meltdown, which is fine.
"The first thing he texted me was 'no challenges!'. That was the only thing he texted me. I think he was laughing about it, from his tone in his text message. [...] I thought it was funny and cute that he said 'no challenges'."
Discussing her dramatic exit from Claim to Fame, Carly told us that she was so "in [her] own head" at the time, adding that she was "upset" as she felt the clues were too easy.
It's understood that they had included a park bench, referencing Tom's film Forrest Gump (1994). Carly said that more "obscure" clues could have been used, potentially referencing lesser known films from earlier in his career.
Sharing her thoughts on her reaction now, Carly said: "I thought it was hilarious, to be honest, because it's so classic me. I do overreact sometimes and I am a reactive person."
She further commented: "I mean it's not a good look, I'm not like proud of it, but I'm also like it is just who I am; I'm extremely over the top sometimes. I didn't think at the time it would be that embarrassing."
Carly - who has worked alongside Tom on films like Larry Crowne (2011) - added that she now thinks its "funny more embarrassing," teasing that it was like a "temper tantrum".
Her departure has attracted much attention since it aired last week and Carly further teased during our interview that it might not be the last time that she appears on reality TV.
Asked about her plans, she said: "I really love reality TV so I really hope to get on a dating reality show because I'm single and like I need to get married like yesterday. So I'm hoping to get on some sort of love, dating show. More acting would be great [too]."
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