Dorchester resident Judy Thomas-Vance and her family will appear on the nationally syndicated TV show, Family Feud this Friday (Feb. 2) on Family Feud airs on WHDH Ch.7 at 8p.m.

Thomas-Vance and her family auditioned last year at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston in a faux-feud makeshift-studio version of the game against other local families. The producers must have seen something special in them, because Thomas-Vance, Christopher and Christa Thomas-Jones, her brother-in-law and sister, Paul and Cynthia Thomas, her brother and sister-in-law, were selected from over 10,000 other potential contestants a few weeks later.

In preparation for the live-audience show, the Thomas family played the Family Feud board game and watched the show together. The speed of the show was something that surprised Thomas-Vance and her family. They had to maintain composure and stay focused.

“I will say that I watch Family Feud every night and I’m calling out answers from my couch, but once you get on the set with the lights, audience and Steve Harvey, it’s a different experience,” added Thomas-Vance. “It’s moving faster than you realize when your brain is trying to determine what the correct answer is before Steve Harvey approaches you.”

Once families were selected and flown to the studio in Atlanta in May, they were informed that one of them would not make it on air. In the studio’s final trial round, the Thomas family competed against another group that had won a few times already, so they were nervous, but they pulled it off and proved that they were a fun and energetic family ready to play, and, most importantly, the family to beat.

“It was a memorable experience that will last a lifetime, and I would encourage anyone interested to audition the next time they come to Massachusetts,” said Thomas-Vance.