LEWISTON -- Two Lewiston-Clarkston Valley women are set to star in a new CBS game show premiering Sunday night on TV nationwide.
Christine Ferris of Clarkston and Stacy Connerley of Lewiston will compete as partners in “Candy Crush,” a show modeled after the popular mobile video game of the same name.
The women work together in the tissue division of Clearwater Paper and Ferris said they got to know each other after she saw Connerley playing “Candy Crush” on her phone. Players can help each other in the game and the two connected over it.
“We play the game all the time,” said Ferris, 58.
Back in 1981 Ferris was a contestant on “The Price is Right” and since then she’s watched for another opportunity to compete on a game show. When she learned her favorite video game was being made into one she asked Connerley if she wanted to apply with her. They shot their application video in the locker room at work in November and were flown to Los Angeles in March to compete for a $100,000 cash prize.
“We were just two gals out on the town,” Ferris said.
In the mobile game “Candy Crush,” players match colored candies to win points, defeat obstacles and move through more than 2,000 levels. In the live action game show, teams of two people use their bodies to compete on enormous interactive game boards. In one video clip, contestants rappel down over a giant touch screen, something they experienced, Ferris said.
Participating in the show required a lot of work you won’t see on TV, she said.
“There were 35 pages of background checks and things we had to sign off on.”
This included not revealing how they fared before the show aired and agreeing to abide by any decision the TV judges made, whether they considered it fair or not. Producers looked over her Facebook page and asked her to delete photos they thought might cause a public dispute, such as one where she dressed like an American Indian for Halloween decades ago.
“They were so blatant about the liberal conservative thing,” Ferris said.
Once in L.A. they had to undergo a medical exam to ensure they were able to physically compete. Then, before the camera was on, they were coached about what to say about themselves. Ferris was asked to say she worked in a toilet paper factory in Washington instead of saying she worked at a mill in Idaho. They were also selective about what the women wore and what they could say about how they would use the money if they won.
“My personal take on it was it was pretty obvious they wanted their reality, not ours,” said Ferris, who is interested to see how the episode is edited in the end.
The show is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Check local listings for changes. The women will be featured in an episode some time this season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrDxJLB9_Rk
