Survey Says: Bowie Family to Appear on Family Feud

As her 29th wedding anniversary approached last fall,  Bowie resident Vanessa Antrum though it would be a nice idea to buy her husband tickets to be in the studio audience of their favorite show, Family Feud. 

“We watch the show all the time and I never thought that I would be on there,” Antrum said.  “We were watching TV and I thought, ‘That would be a nice surprise to take him to be in the audience on the show.’” 

When she went to the website to purchase tickets, she saw the application to be a contestant family, and wrote the essay to apply. 

A short time later, Antrum and her family—husband Thomas and daughters Michelle, Koleen and Vanice—were flown out to Atlantic City where they played games against another family and were ultimately chosen to be on Family Feud. 

“Getting the notice that we were actually selected was just phenomenal,” Antrum said. 

Antrum’s favorite part of being on the show was meeting host Steve Harvey, who she described as “very down to earth and just as crazy as he is on TV.” 

Harvey told Antrum that she reminded him of his mother. 

“He said to me, ‘The bible says to let your light shine, but you’ve got your high beams on,’” Antrum quoted. 

Antrum and her family have lived in the Q section of Bowie since 1995, and she says she loves the quietness of the city, and all of the available amenities like Allen Pond Park and the excellent schools.

“It has everything you need in it as far as restaurants, a good government system, shopping and everything, but when we’re at home it’s like you don’t know that it's this big city,” Antrum said.

Antrum was thrilled that her family was selected to be on the show, as was her husband Thomas, who she describes as “the best husband in the world.” 

“We’ve been married 30 years, and I’m a breast cancer survivor. And when I was sick he took care of me like I was the president, and he was the nurse on duty,” she said. 

The Antrum family will appear on Family Feud on Tuesday on WDCA at 7 p.m. Check your local listings for more details.