July 17, 2024
Chris Willard/Disney
Season 28 'Bachelor' star Joey Graziadei (right) competed on 'Celebrity Family Feud' Tuesday night with a team that featured his fiancée, Kelsey Anderson, and his ex, the former 'Bachelorette' lead Charity Lawson.
"Family Feud" can get a little cringeworthy at times, like when the game show contestants blurt out unseemly answers that even perplex host Steve Harvey. One thing viewers don't often see, though, is a team full of people who used to date each other.
That changed Tuesday night, when the latest episode of the "Celebrity Family Feud" spinoff featured a team comprised of Montgomery County native "Bachelor" star Joey Graziadei, his fiancée Kelsey Anderson — who he gave his final rose to in Season 28 — and Charity Lawson — the Season 20 lead of "The Bachelorette," who sent Graziadei packing as the runner-up of her season.
MORE: Former 'Golden Bachelor' contestant Susan Noles to host QVC shopping special on Saturday
The Bachelor Nation team Tuesday night also included Dotun Olubeko, Lawson's fiancé and the man she gave her final rose to instead of Graziadei. Rounding out the team were Zach Shallcross — the lead of "The Bachelor" Season 27, which Lawson appeared as a contestant on, and Kaity Biggar, Shallcross' final rose recipient-turned-fiancée.
Graziadei and his crew faced a "Golden Bachelor" team made up of Season 1 lead, Gerry Turner, his wife, Theresa Nist — who he gave his final rose to on the show and married in a televised "Golden Wedding" special — and their kids from previous marriages. Seems like a big happy family in comparison with a team made up of exes right? Wrong!
Turner and Nist announced they were getting a divorce in April after just three months of marriage. The new "Family Feud" episode was clearly filmed in that fleeting period of marital bliss, as Turner refers to her as his "lovely wife."
At one point, during the high-stakes "Fast Money" round of play, Harvey asks Nist, "Are you out here against your will?"
"Yes," she replies with a smile and a laugh, likely referring to the stress of being chosen to represent her team in the tough final round. But, fans of the franchise — who now know of the couple's quick split — are sure to be looking further into that seemingly trivial exchange.
"This didn’t age well," an Instagram user commented on a post about the episode, adding a laughing emoji.
Meanwhile, the degrees of separation for Graziadei's Bachelor Nation team may seem uncomfortable — and a bit confusing to keep track of — but it doesn't seem to phase these members of the ABC dating show franchise who are pretty used to attending "Bachelor" events with people they once dated on TV. In fact, the three couples are all friends and have recently vacationed together.
During "Family Feud," Harvey did not even make mention of the Bachelor Nation team's complicated dating history — but maybe he just couldn't keep track of the lore. He did, however, make Graziadei's team laugh uncomfortably with each other during the question, "We asked 100 men: You love a naked woman, just as long as it isn't your who?" when one of the responses was "my ex."
In the end, whether they were on the verge of a split while filming or not, Turner and the "Golden Bachelor" team pulled out the victory on "Celebrity Family Feud." They won $25,000, which will be donated to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital. Graziadei's team also won cash to be donated to their charity of choice, the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Later this season of "Celebrity Family Feud," some other contestants from "Golden Bachelor" — including Delco's Susan Noles — are going to compete, though the air date has not yet been revealed. The "Celebrity Family Feud" episode featuring Graziadei can now be streamed on Hulu.
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