When Family Feud hits Canadian airwaves late this year, there will be one team with significant southeast Saskatchewan connections.
It’s also a family that has a very unique story.
Family Feud will air four nights a week on the CBC starting on Dec. 16, with actor and stand-up comedian Gerry Dee as the host.
Among the teams chosen is one comprised of former Estevan resident Pam Currie, who now resides in Esterhazy, her sister Teresa Smyth of Bienfait, their brother Kelly Wheeler of Stoughton, and their twin brothers Scott and Todd Marasse of Moose Jaw.
The Marasse twins were given up for adoption by their parents at birth, and only recently reconnected with the family.
It was Currie’s sister-in-law Jennifer Wheeler, who isn’t on the team, who came up with the idea.
“We had just found our biological twin brothers, and because we were three siblings prior to this, and then when we found our twin brothers, we became five siblings, so my sister in law thought this would be a wonderful way to celebrate our reunion with our twin brothers,” said Currie.
They were hesitant initially because they had just reconnected with their twin siblings, but this felt like a good thing to do.
The family filled out an application and submitted a writeup on themselves and why they thought they would be good contestants for the show. They also had to submit a five-minute video in which they talked about themselves and engaged in a simulated Family Feud game.
“We applied a little later than a lot of the other people; it would have been the middle of August,” said Currie. “We didn’t hear back from them for a couple of weeks.”
The family was invited to the regional auditions in Regina in September, and they competed with 15 other families that afternoon.
“We did a little game play with them as well,” Currie recalled.
A couple of days later the family received the call that they were selected to be part of the show.
The story about recently meeting their twin brothers was a big part of the reason they were selected. According to Currie, the producers thought it was an “interesting and heart-warming story” to find twin brothers and start a new relationship with them.
“It was really weird. Meeting these brand new people in our lives, and the instant connection that we felt with them was unbelievable,” said Currie. “It’s uncanny.”
It also helps that this five-person sibling team is a lot of fun and they brought a lot of energy to the audition.
The episode is scheduled to be filmed on Dec. 2, but they don’t know when it will air. They have the opportunity to play and win on up to three episodes, with a chance to win up to $10,000 each time if they win the Fast Money round at the end of the episode.
Conceivably, they could win up to $30,000.
“When we play Family Feud on TV, we’re pretty darn smart,” said Currie. “I’ve been emailing everybody websites that have the questions and answers that you can practice with, and I think we’re going to do OK. I really do.
“I think we’re quick-witted and we’re funny, and I think it will be entertaining and hopefully we’ll be smart enough to pull off the top answers.”
Currie said they’re fans of the program, and they’re looking forward to interacting with Dee.
“I think he’ll be very entertaining, and I think he’ll keep everybody going as well,” said Currie.
She believes this will be a great opportunity to have fun with family members, and she is looking forward to the support of friends who will want to see how they do. Currie suggested having a party the date of the episode.
Almost 2,000 families applied from across Canada for Family Feud Canada. A total of 575 families were invited to audition regionally in person, and approximately 72 families were selected to compete on air. The show is expected to run for several months.
