Forbes family from Stillwater chosen for Family Feud

Oct. 23—A Stillwater family who spent the pandemic watching Family Feud lived out their dream after being selected to be on the hit show.

"Back in January, there was a thing on Facebook or something about applying, and so I filled out an application," Marsha Forbes said. "You had to write a little story on your family and everything and I submitted six family members, and I sent it in."

Forbes filled out an application with hopes to be on the popular game show, but after her Zoom audition, she didn't think her family would actually make it. During a practice run, they didn't perform as well as they'd hoped. Still, they recieved a call back and invitation to the studio.

Forbes, her husband Fred and their three children, Andrew, Jill and Kelli, were all selected to be on the show. Forbes described their family as "close knit" and said they love to play games together and have fun.

The Forbes family headed to Atlanta to begin filming the show in May. Forbes said everyone from the production team to host Steve Harvey were "wonderful" and COVID precautions were taken.

"Each family had a van, they rode in, and we were separated, we had to wear masks, and we had to do COVID testing when we got there, and then they got the results back before you're allowed to go to the studio," she said.

Once filming began, Forbes said the nerves had calmed down because they did practice rounds, and the producers said the answers were pure luck.

"And they said, you know, it's a lot of luck ... on getting the answers because they just go to malls and shopping centers and stuff like that to interview those people," she said. "So you do not know how they're going to answer."

Although there were challenging questions which she couldn't disclose, she said it was an experience she and her family would never forget.

Since they are from Stillwater, Forbes said her family wore orange to show support to Oklahoma State University, something she said Harvey commented on.

"They even recognized that we were wearing orange because of OSU and Steve Harvey was knowledgeable about the Oklahoma State Cowboys," she said.

Forbes said she wanted people to know being on the show was a great family experience. She suggested if someone is a big fan of the show, apply and audition for Family Feud, for lasting memories.

"I actually think it was just being with our family, and the experience of, we laughed about it, we joked," she said." Steve Harvey was wonderful, he was so funny and he was so personable."

The show with the Forbes family will air at 6 p.m. Oct. 28.