Tom Hanks’ Niece, Carly Reeves, Defends Epic Reality Show Meltdown

Tom Hanks had a relative go on national TV and melt down in dramatic fashion — but the woman herself has no shame to her game … and she says her uncle doesn’t either.

We talked to Carly Reeves — Tom and Rita Wilson‘s niece — on “TMZ Live” Wednesday … this after her freak out for the ages was caught on camera and aired Monday on a new ABC show called “Claim to Fame,” which is all about finding who’s related to a celeb.

Unfortunately for her, Carly was found out in episode one … and when she got the boot, she didn’t take it particularly well — with her exit playing out in a full-blown temper tantrum.

You gotta see it for yourself … she’s cursing, hurling insults at fellow contestants and blasting showrunners for what she believes was a raw deal in exposing her connection to TH.

In the aftermath of this explosion of rage, Carly caught a lot of flak online — with many people calling her entitled, overly dramatic and a bit of a drama queen/crybaby … and some felt it, perhaps, even reflected poorly on Tom and Rita — who are the real stars here.

Welp, we asked Carly about all of that … and her response was essentially — I am what I am, and this was what it was. As she explains to us, her emotions here were raw and authentic … and she wasn’t hamming it up for the cameras.

Carly does regret the way things played out in hindsight, but all things considered … she says she’s not ashamed — because this is simply who she is sometimes … something she says her famous uncle and aunt were well aware of when they cosigned her appearance.

As for how Forrest Gump reacted … sounds like it ain’t no thing for Tommy boy. She says this isn’t gonna hurt his image — and that’s probably accurate. He’s proven to keep it pretty real himself in recent years … including his rare flash of anger at fans bombarding his wife.