'I would love to be on every game show possible:' Raleigh family makes Family Feud debut this week

Raleigh resident Caroline Hoffman was up one night with her newborn daughter when an advertisement came up that she couldn't resist.

The advertisement asked two simple questions: Do you live in Raleigh and do you want to be on Family Feud?

Eight months after filling out an application, Hoffman got news that her family had been selected to participate in the show.

"It was one of those, you fill it you and you're like, 'I'm never going to hear back from them.' Then all of a sudden we did, and it just kept progressing," said Hoffman.

"It still feels surreal," she added.

Hoffman said her family is longtime watchers of the popular television show, even back when the original Family Feud host, Richard Dawson, was still on air.

"It was cool to be able to go in and be a part of it. I would love to be on every game show possible," she said.

After finding out they had been selected, the family spent as much time as possible preparing for what the survey could say.

"We played tons as a family ... we even bought the card game. Anything you can think of, we were doing it," she said.

Hoffman rounded up her husband, sister, mother and sister-in-law, and headed to Atlanta for a taping. It’s one of two locations where the show is produced.

"Since we live on the East Coast, we filmed in Atlanta," said Hoffman. "It is one of the coolest experiences."

While Hoffman can't disclose much about her episode yet because of a non-disclosure agreement, she said that Family Feud host Steve Harvey was one of "the nicest people I've ever met."

"You never know what you're going to get into when you meet a celebrity," said Hoffman. "You hear kind of all different things, but he is 100 percent such a nice guy."

Filming for the show was an all-day process, Hoffman said, but Harvey helped make the experience enjoyable.

"In the middle of a commercial break, he would come out and he talked to the audience and the members, and it just felt more like a friendship relationship," she added.

Hoffman says if you're hoping to get on a television game show like her family, look for what makes you unique.

"The more you can bring to the plan the better," said Hoffman.

Hoffman's sister went to school for vocal performance, and the family had several nurses that had been working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Anything that helps you kind of standout is always good," she added.

You can watch the Hoffman family compete on Family Feud Wednesday and Thursday nights this week at 7 p.m.