Family Feud has been a TV staple for decades now, and some could argue that the game show is more popular than ever right now. This is largely due to the work of current host Steve Harvey, who’s held the position since 2010. One of the things that’s made his tenure so entertaining is the array of (sometimes outrageous) guesses that contestants give while playing the game. In some cases, these people end up going viral, joining a truly special group of FF alums in the process. This, of course, doesn’t happen to everyone, and Harvey has now shared the secret behind getting one’s answer to go viral on the Celebrity iteration of the show.
There are plenty of ways to get notoriety on the web. You can perform a death-defying stunt, which is recorded and sent to the Internet. Or you can even partake in a charitable effort that catches social media’s attention. However, anyone appearing on Celebrity Family Feud who hopes to find fame online just needs to do one thing, according to Steve Harvey. The host humorously says that one must give the most ignorant answer they can muster:
Pure, high-level, unintentional ignorance. That’s what it is. You’re going to go viral if you give me that high-level unintentional shot of ignorance. But every viral moment that’s ever happened on the show — I knew it, I recognized it. I tell people all the time: ‘You’re going to be on YouTube.’ I know the moments.
Based on what viewers have seen over the years, this advice tracks. Educated guesses and slightly off-base responses don’t typically make it to the show’s social media channels. It’s the mind-blowingly painful and just plain dumb answers that make the cut. In other words, you want to be as far from the correct response as possible in order to go viral, and that’s a point that Steve Harvey doubled down on later in his interview with People:
The answer that’s up there is not going to go viral. It’s the one that is not up there that’s going to go viral.
And there have certainly been some “interesting” moments on Celebrity Family Feud over the years. Sherri Shepherd once gave a surprising answer when naming something “something a lady cop might do to her husband in the bedroom.” Real Housewives alums also lit up Celebrity FF with a host of incorrect answers. And if you can believe it, years ago, Snoop Dogg lost a category that was all about marijuana. These moments can definitely leave you scratching your head, but they sure do make for fun and entertaining TV.
Of course, let’s not forget that epic fails don’t just happen with celebrity guests. One contestant, for example, once gave a series of morbid answers after being posed with the question of what would grandma tell grandpa not to do in front of the grandchildren. Another situation saw a person offer up terrible answers over and over again while thinking about alternate terms for the word “mother.”
Obviously, anyone who competes on Family Feud hopes to win the game, though there are probably some who wouldn’t mind giving an outrageously incorrect answer or two in order to go viral. Should that be their desire, they’ll definitely want to take note of Steve Harvey’s insightful and funny comments. May the contestant who can confuse Harvey the most win (or possibly lose, I guess).
Celebrity Family Feud airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Check your local listings for the standard version of the game show, which airs daily in syndication as part of the 2022 TV schedule.