Jemma Yeadon described it as a pinch-me, life-changing experience for her Mercer Island family.

After talking about auditioning for the popular Family Feud for more than 15 years, the Yeadons took the leap and sent a fun game-show-like video to the producers. A few weeks later, they received an email of interest from the show, an online interview soon occurred and then an acceptance notification came their way a month down the line.

The Yeadons were finally going to appear on the enduring Family Feud alongside iconic, humorous and down-to-earth host Steve Harvey. Filming took place on July 11 near Atlanta, Georgia, and the Yeadons’ episode will air on Feb. 21.

Along with Jemma and her sisters Lorial and Stirling, the Yeadon team features their mom and dad, Loria and Joseph.

“It was a great time. It was exciting to be there and share it with my family and it was just a phenomenal thing,” Joseph said. “The best thing was that we were there together, and we were supportive of each other. It just made it very special.”

Added Jemma about realizing what was on their agenda when they prepared to fly to Atlanta for the taping: “Getting all of our outfits together just kind of had been something we’ve always said we wanted to do — I think never really expecting that we would actually do it.”

And when they hit the sparkly stage under the lights with Harvey interacting with them and firing questions in their domain, Jemma said, “It was just a super humbling moment, once-in-a-lifetime moment and memory that we’ll always have with our family and be able to talk about and share with our family and friends forever.”

Stirling, who has a YouTube channel, set the wheels in motion by suggesting the Yeadons give Family Feud a whirl. When their dreams came to fruition and she was face to face with Harvey, Stirling fully soaked up the moment.

“From watching it on TV, you would never see how he just interacts so much with not only the contestants, but with the audience and stuff. And just the jokes that he’s making and the advice he’s giving about life. It was such a surreal moment to see someone that I had watched for most of my life,” she said.

Longtime Family Feud watcher Loria said it was a treat to be in Harvey’s presence. He put the family at ease and kept them on their toes throughout the fun experience, she added.

“We love not only his humor, but his humanity. I mean, underneath all of that, the glimmer and the glam of the show and the humor, he is such a humane person and he really cares,” said Loria, noting that the family members learned how uber-competitive they are from their appearance on the Feud.

“We wanted to represent our hometown well and bring a lot of pride back to Mercer Island,” Loria added.

Lorial said she was a tad nervous at the start when Harvey spoke to each family member about their lives, but that washed away and comfort set in when the game began. Harvey’s humor helped things run smooth throughout their time on the set.

A bit of song and dance played an integral role, as well.

“They were playing some sort of hype music to get ready, and me and my dad were sort of doing a little one-two step on the side, sort of getting into the groove of things,” Lorial said with a laugh.

The Yeadons have resided on Mercer Island since 2009 and the sisters all graduated from Mercer Island High School and starred for the varsity volleyball program.

Joseph — who runs a tax practice — said that for 10 consecutive years, one of his girls was starting on the varsity squad. All three girls made 3A All-KingCo four years in a row and Jemma received a four-year scholarship to play volleyball at the University of Notre Dame, where she was an All-American for three straight years. Stirling — who was the KingCo most valuable player her senior year — graduated from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and Lorial is an alumni of the University of Virginia.

“Serious volleyball players and great women. And we’re so proud of them,” said Loria, who is the president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Seattle.

Back to the Feud set, Loria added that she and Joseph were overjoyed when Harvey spoke about the girls’ accomplishments throughout their lives.

The Yeadon family. Photo courtesy of Family Feud