Producers for the show loved the de Albas, Jesus said. When given a mock game show question asking the family what they would get from a convenience store, Jesus said his oldest brother gave a response that made producers laugh: He said he would buy a pickle.
Family Feud producers invited the de Alba family to Atlanta a month later in July to tape the show. Jesus said he’d never before been outside of California — Atlanta was hot, but the studio was “freezing cold” and filled with bright lights, he said. Jesus was nervous, but he said he calmed his nerves with backstage tequila and red bull. The former drink also happens to be what the de Albas used to practice for the show the night before, paired with a mock Family Feud game in their hotel room. “We like tequila — it makes things spicy,” said Jesus, laughing.
The biggest surprise, Jesus said, was the 12-hour days of filming. He said that Steve Harvey, the show’s host, kept the set lively. De Alba described Harvey as having loved the Vallejo family, telling the siblings that the other families were boring.