<\/p>\n
John O\u2019Hurley hosted Family Feud<\/em> from 2006 to 2010<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n During those years, O\u2019Hurley, 71, was the first host to experience the migration toward raunchier questions being posted<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n O\u2019Hurley explains why the change in the show\u2019s tone, as well as other changes, made it clear it was his time to walk away<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n John O\u2019Hurley has special memories of his time hosting Family Feud<\/em>.<\/p>\n While the beloved game show officially premiered on July 12, 1976, O\u2019Hurley took over as host from 2006 to 2010, before current host Steve Harvey<\/a> came in. During a previous appearance on The Game Show Starring Bradley Clarke<\/em><\/a> in 2021, the actor, 71, opened up about his experience at the show\u2019s helm and explained why he ultimately decided to step away.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a tough decision, but they were moving the show from shooting in L.A. to shooting down at Universal, down in Florida, and I wasn\u2019t really pleased about that because it was tough enough to coordinate the filming of the show with all the other demands that I had, not the least of which was the fact that I was doing quite a bit of Broadway at the time,\u201d O\u2019Hurley explained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very difficult for me to coordinate the two because I had 14 weekends a year that I had to commit to The Family Feud<\/em>,\u201d he continued. \u201cNow, if I had to travel to Florida every time I wanted to do one of those weekends, well, now I\u2019m adding in travel days, another 30 days away from home just for travel, in addition to the two days that it would take to shoot it.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Hurley also noted, \u201cMy family didn\u2019t want to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I said, \u2018This is the time, probably, when you should pass it on to somebody else. I\u2019ve had my fun with it, and that\u2019s it, time to move on now,\u2019 \u201d he explained.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hurley noted that it fell into the right hands with Harvey, who he said \u201ccame in and reignited it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt turned out to be a much bigger hit than when I was doing it. So I tip my hat to him and all that has happened with the success of the show since then,\u201d he shared. \u201cAnd again, the show has moved from Florida up to Atlanta, where he\u2019s based, and I don\u2019t know if they\u2019re still shooting it there or not. I think they are, but it turned out to be just a wonderful jolt of success for the show.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing previous comments about the show\u2019s content contributing to his decision to leave, O\u2019Hurley admitted, \u201cThat was a very strong reason too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was getting a lot of… you know, they blame the host for whatever the show is. Truth-wise, I had very little to do with the content of the show, except to put my hand up and say, \u2018I won\u2019t do that,\u2019 because, as I said, and I meant it when I said it, the show had become kind of a penis joke,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the family orientation that it was. Everything was looking for the sexual double entendre, all the time, and it was even getting a little too demonstrative,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd I just felt that this was always a show you could watch with your family. In fact, in most syndicated arenas, it was on at 6 p.m., and that was a popular family show to watch. But I was getting so many letters from people all around the country, saying, \u2018I can\u2019t watch this with my family anymore. It\u2019s making me answer questions that I don\u2019t want to answer.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n