'Family Feud' fans left in disbelief after contestant wins $20,000 in a nail-biting finish

After painfully losing out by 5 points the previous night, the Baccus family made a comeback

PUBLISHED MAR 2, 2026

Screenshot showing Steve Harvey announcing the win and the contestants celebrating behind him (Cover image source: YouTube/Family Feud)

Losing $20,000 on Family Feud by just five points short of the required 200 points in the finale is hurtful, but the Baccus family didn't let that shake their confidence as they took their second shot at $20,000. Their contestant, Ariana, turned out to be the outlier for the team in both games, as she stunned the host, who believed only she could pull off the victory. As she got over 100 points alone to win, fans were all in praise.

Screenshot showing Ariana alongside Harvey (Image source: YouTube/Family Feud)

In the episode, the Baccus family won the game to advance to the "Fast Money Round" for the second successive episode. While the husband-wife duo of Cameron and Ariana failed to get 200 points the last time, the team put their faith in them again, and Cameron went first to answer the five survey questions, in hopes of getting way more than the 26 points he got last time. He got through the set in the given 20 seconds first and looked to the board alongside Harvey to see how well he did.

Screenshot showing Cameron playing the game (Image source: YouTube/Family Feud)

Cameron didn't start well as his answer, "A book," to the first question, "When you see the boss approaching, what do you reach for so it looks like you're busy?" got him zero points. His second answer, "two," to the question "If you diet hard for a week, how many pounds would you expect to lose?" didn't do great either, as it got him 12 points. The next question was "Name something you need to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey," and his answer, "A tail," got him 19 more points. He then made a strong comeback with the last two questions to earn a decent total of 94 points by associating boxing with 'gloves' and 'doctors' for someone who works at a hospital.

Harvey then welcomed Ariana, who got over 160 points in the last game, to the stage. He then delivered the good news and said, "All right, Ariana. I believe we can make this happen because of the type of player you are." Ariana then took on the five questions, and she successfully got through them in 25 seconds. With a decent 106 required to win, the player and the host looked to the board to see if the Baccus family could get over the line.

Screenshot showing Ariana playing the game (Image source: YouTube/Family Feud)

Unlike Cameron, Ariana started strong as her answer "Computer" got her 42 big points on the board. Her next answer of losing '5 pounds' if you diet hard for a week, did well as well, getting her 25 points, but it went downhill from there. Her third answer, which was a response to what you would need to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey, "Ribbons," got her zero points. Her fourth answer, "Club", to the question, "Fill in the blank, 'Boxing blank,' got her zero points again, and it seemed like the team would lose out again as they needed 39 points from just one answer.

Screenshot showing the player looking tensed (Image source: YouTube/Family Feud)

With a tensed look on her face, Ariana looked to the board to see how much her last answer, "Nurse" to the question, "Name an occupation of someone who works in a hospital," fetched her. After building up the suspense, Harvey revealed that the player's response got her a whopping 61 points as it was the number one answer in the survey. This meant the Baccus family won $20,000.

While the team celebrated, even fans at home were delighted. "Ariana with the buzzer beater," wrote @ZacharyGilbert-z6w in the comments of the show's YouTube clip. "Congratulations to the Baccus family!" added another fan, @vyphamho3593.