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West Jordan Journal

Happy Hubers create memories on ‘Family Feud’

Mar 12, 2018 05:22PM ● By Ruth Hendricks

The Hubers: Bubba, Julie, Heidi, Kristy and Josh pose with Steve Harvey. (Julie Frank)

After a fire gutted her home three and a half years ago, Kristy Huber realized her lost possessions were just things, even the 30 scrapbooks she had made for her kids. 

“As I drove up and saw my house in flames, I said, ‘it’s just a home, we can rebuild,’” said Kristy. 

“We decided that from then on we were going to make memories, and you can’t take memories away.” Kristy said when you lose everything, the only thing that’s important is relationships. What matters is family and memories. You learn to laugh more.

Kristy’s daughter Julie and her husband Andrew, who lived in the house, got out of the fire with just a cell phone, wearing no shoes or coat in November. Kristy wasn’t at home, but was off babysitting grandkids. It took nine months to rebuild. “We decided we loved West Jordan so much, we would rebuild here and live rather than rebuild and sell. You get integrated into neighborhoods and friends,” said Kristy.

This desire to create memories inspired Kristy and four of her five children to try out for the “Family Feud” game show. 

Kristy has been a doula for 23 years, one who helps with comfort measures for the mother during childbirth. She also teaches at Salt Lake Community College and at the Midwives College of Utah. She is one of the longest practicing doulas in the state. 

Her oldest child, Josh, is a football coach at Brighton High, where he went to school. Daughter Heidi, the middle child, ran track at BYU and was All-American in high school. Julie has been a stay-at-home mom to a beautiful little boy and is currently student teaching at West Jordan middle school. The youngest is Kameron, nicknamed Bubba, studying to become a real estate agent. There is another child who lives out of state who was not able to be part of the game show team.

Before the tryout event, the Hubers sent in a video of the family. Kameron wrote a rap, and they danced with masks of Steve Harvey, the host of the show. “It helped us stand out, and just showed how nuts we are,” said Kristy.

Tryouts were held in January 2017 at the Expo Center and “Family Feud” producers came. The Hubers brought their Steve Harvey masks, including one for Reuben, who is the warm-up act for Steve before the show. The producers were impressed they had done research.

They wore color-coordinated clothing and held signs saying “The Happy Hubers love Family Feud.” They played a mock game. The producers chose about 30 families who were taken to another room and were videotaped as they introduced themselves.

The family was told that in eight weeks they would get a postcard, but their postcard was lost in the mail. However, Julie got an email asking when they could come. The family traveled to Atlanta in June 2017. 

The show paid for their flights and hotel. “You have to try out again when you get there. You’re not guaranteed to get on the show once you arrive,” said Julie. The Hubers worked with a coach named Bryce who helped them through the process. 

“One of the hardest things was selecting clothing that looks good together. They want bright colors,” said Kristy. They decided to coordinate around Bubba who had a hot pink jacket. “It really looked sharp on set.” 

The masks the Hubers brought with them to the show became their trademark. When they held up their masks on set, Steve Harvey said, “That’s the best-looking family I’ve ever seen.”

The family had to sign statements agreeing not to say anything about their show until it aired, which it did on Feb. 1 and 2. “We had a viewing party, and the dumb answers we gave were put on t-shirts for all of us to wear,” Julie said.

On the first game the Hubers played, they won $20,000 in “fast money”. They lost the second game, but got a $500 gift card.

“We had a great time with both of the families that we played, but we especially bonded with the Frost family from Michigan, the ones we lost to,” said Julie.

“We laughed a lot and had a blast,” said Kristy. “A highlight for me was that I had four of my five kids with me for a few days, without spouses, without kids, and we just had fun.” The family succeeded in creating a remarkable memory that cannot be taken away from them.

For those who missed the show, it will re-air June 1 and 4 on Channel 2 at 3:00 pm.