A St. Albert family is hoping to share their deep St. Albert roots and Métis heritge with the country while feuding with other families on television.
The Perreault family, a proud Métis family who are some of the original members of the St. Albert community, are hoping their energy and enthusiasm dazzle the Family Feud Canada casting team and get them picked to be on the national show, as they head to Calgary to try out for the program.
Alisia Perrault-Werner said it would be “ridiculously cool” if the family were selected to be on the show.
“We are super adventurous and we all just wear our hearts on our sleeve. I feel like this is just a next level and adventure for us,” Perrault-Werner said.
Perrault-Werner, a 35-year fan of the show, is one of five members of the group of relatives trying out for the show, which includes their aunt and team captain Sandy Dryburgh, cousins Aileen Hartman, Shannon Perreault, Denise Barber and Alisia. Cousin Rebecca Barber will be their alternate for the audition. The family, who all were raised in St. Albert are proud of their Métis and St. Albert heritage, has given themselves the name Métis Wolfpack.
The family traces their roots in St. Albert back to the original settlements of Vital Grandin in the community, with members of the family previously owning a River Lot on Big Lake, being the original signatories to Treaty 6 for the Michel Band, owning a house where St. Albert Place is right now and with a road, Perrault Place, named after the iconic family.
“We are super excited. We just love St. Albert and we want to make St. Albert proud.”
Perrault-Werner has been a long-time fan of the show and would always watch it with her mom. The daughter and mom always dreamed of who they would take with them if they ever got the opportunity to try out.
When Perrault-Werner, whose mom passed away three years ago, saw the posting for auditions on Facebook, she immediately knew she wanted to take her aunt and cousins, who all share a close family bond.
“I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I’ve got my team.' I know who I wanted. I know what we're doing. So within like three days, we made our audition video and sent it in.”
Perrault-Werner, who is the biggest Feud fan in the family, is driving the passion to get on the program, but her enthusiasm is contagious.
“We are all playing the Family Feud app, we are all watching it with Steve Harvey now – we are all obsessed with Family Feud now. We are getting ready to go."
The family is headed down to Calgary this weekend to try out for the national program. They will compete in mock Family Feud matches against 16 other hopeful families where the casting team will gauge their energy and enthusiasm.
Not only are they hoping to get on the CBC television show and meet the host Gerry Dee, but they are wanting to share their culture and St. Albert roots with the country.
“We feel like we have this responsibility to share how many positive things about our culture there is to share,” Perrault-Werner said.
The five women plan on wearing their Métis sashes and doing the Red River Jig up to the front podium, and doing a bit of a jig while they introduce their family.
The family’s grandparents, Emery and Aileen Perrault, were strongly involved in the Métis Nation of Alberta and Perrault-Werner’s grandmother was a champion Red River Jig dancer who danced at events like Klondike Days while the kids were growing up.
“They've always just taught us to be super proud of who we are,” Perrault-Werner said.
“I feel like we are just making them proud.”
If the team is selected after their in-person audition in Calgary this weekend, they will tape an episode of Family Feud in Toronto in November and the episode will air in December.
