Survey Says: Hayden, Gardendale woman to appear on Family Feud
Published 1:57 pm Tuesday, November 4, 2014
- Two north Jefferson County residents, Fredia Owens of Hayden and Melonie Graham of Gardendale, are scheduled to appear on Family Feud on Nov. 10. The other family members on the team live in Grady, Ala. From left are Amy Dicks, Owens, Karen Roten, Ashley Dicks and Graham.
A Hayden woman will soon get to live out one of her lifelong dreams, and she will do it on national television.
Fredia Owens has always loved game shows.
One day, she told her daughter Amy Dicks, of Grady, Ala., to get her onto Family Feud. And amazingly, Dicks did it.
Dicks applied, completed a questionnaire and, when the show called, organized the family for an audition in Atlanta. That’s where the show has been taped since 2011.
Then, the show called in July for a second audition.
For the second audition, the competition had been narrowed down from about 1,000 families to 15 families, Owens said.
They went through the interview process again, and were thrilled to be selected.
“It was absolutely wonderful. We can’t say anything negative,” said Owens. “They were so hospitable, so friendly. They made sure we had everything we needed.”
Owens was also impressed with host Steve Harvey.
“He is so friendly,” she said. “When the show goes to a commercial, he talks to the audience. He talked very honestly about past mistakes and experiences and how he got to where he is today.”
On the team along with Owens and Dicks were Owens’ sister Melonie Graham of Gardendale, Dicks’ sister-in-law Ashley Dicks of Grady and a cousin Karen Roten of Grady.
The family prepared for the show as much as they could. Owens said they all have the Family Feud game on their cell phones, where they played it “24/7” for about five weeks.
They also texted each other questions to see who would respond back the quickest.
“We needed to get a feel for each other and make sure everybody was on board,” Owens said.
In their Atlanta hotel room on the night prior to the taping of the show, the women practiced some more: So much that they received a phone call asking them to calm down.
“We were so excited,” Owens said. “We were practicing and laughing. We practiced shaking hands and hitting the buzzer.”
It is still a mystery whether the family won; they signed a contract, agreeing that they would not reveal who won the game show until it airs on television.
The show will air on Monday, Nov. 10, 6:30 p.m, on WABM channel 68.
