'Steve Harvey Smells Good' Says Douglasville Feud Family

DOUGLASVILLE, GA – Laura Demarest's first reaction to meeting "Family Feud" host Steve Harvey was that he was amazing, smelled good and was dressed to the T! Demarest and her family, from Douglasville, will be on the popular game show Tuesday, Jan. 23; Wednesday, Jan. 24; Thursday, Jan. 25; and Monday, Jan. 29. Locally, the show is on the CW Network at at 7 p.m., which is Comcast channel 810.

"Our experience was amazing," said Demarest. "He truly wanted you to do good in the fast money round and totally comforted you. It takes about 1.5 hours to film one show. In between takes, he never rests and entertains the crowd the whole time."

It was all Daryl Demarest’s idea, Laura's youngest daughter, she told Patch. The rest of the family who participated included: Kelly Greer, the youngest sister; Sherry Register, the middle sister; Darby Demarest: the oldest daughter; and Olivia Greer, Kelly’s daughter, Laura's niece.

"We used my last name since it was all my younger daughter’s idea-she was 15 at beginning of process and minimum age was 16. She wanted to be on it so bad. She was an alternate but they ended up choosing the before mentioned five because of age," said Laura.

What was the best part?

"It was funny when there would be a question that just wasn’t working and they would have to throw it out and start over," Laura said. "Steve Harvey kept us laughing the whole time! We can’t reveal how we did or any of the questions, but Sherry became the brunt of an ongoing joke with Steve Harvey. We haven’t seen the shows ourselves so we can’t wait. It was so surreal that we literally forgot half of the questions! It was one of the funniest yet hardest things we’ve done. They were great with taking pics of us and sending them to us when they sent our viewing dates. It will always be a great memory for us all. We aren’t allowed to say how we did before viewing. I hope everyone enjoys it. You have to be ready to make fun of yourself."

How did they land this great gig?

"We actually filmed in May 2017. It was a process to get to that point! You first have to submit an audition tape online, which we did, about two years ago. They emailed us a few weeks later with our invite to try out in person at the World Congress Center. There you do a mock performance in front of everyone else trying out. Then you wait to see if you make it past that point. We got the call. So we were given different dates we could film. You have a huge book of rules and have to come day of filming with five different outfits with a long criteria. We were scheduled to be one of the last families to film and got the call the day before that they had sound issues and would have to cancel. We would be on the list for the next season. We were devastated."

"They kept their word and we got the call a year later," Laura explained. "Then when you come your day of shooting, there are about 10 families there and you have yet another tryout. This time it is on the real stage and they have to see how you do in the real situation, but still without Steve Harvey. Then as they shoot- they pick families according to matching them up with their criteria for the show and at the end of the day about four families still don’t make it and are sent home which is sad for some that fly in from out of state. The day of our shoot, we met families from Georgia, Alabama and as far as Michigan who flew in and still might not make final cut. You sit in audience and watch other families play until you are called. We were first to be called. We didn’t have time to process and were scared to death. From there it was a whirlwind of makeup, directions, and prep. As soon as we entered the studio that day, they take your cell phones away. The whole show and everyone involved were caring, nice, organized! We literally didn’t meet Steve Harvey until he walks out on stage to film!"

Just how scary was it?

"The whole process was fun but very stressful," said Laura. "I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t the first one and had to introduce the family. They feed and take care of you back stage. You dress and do hair and makeup yourself, but they touch you up so you don’t shine on camera. Talking with the other families from all over while waiting to be picked was interesting - hearing their stories how they got to that point. We look forward to seeing their shows too. The scariest thing was being the one waiting back stage to be the second one on fast money. I’ve never been so scared in my life and then had to walk out in heels on stage."

Photos courtesy Family Feud