By james art 
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Precious McCray lives in downtown Baton Rouge, but lately she’s been in a lot of unexpected places thanks to a reality TV show that helps her find her biological family.
“My best friend of 20+ years, we even share the same name, she knew I always wanted to find my biological family,” McCray said. “She saw an ad on TikTok and proceeded to fill it out for me. Then she said, “So, I did something…”
That “something” changed the course of McCrae’s life.
“I thought, ‘What did you do?'” McCrae asked. “She said, ‘I filled out an application for you to find your biological family, but you have to submit an interview on YouTube to get placed.’
Then McCrae’s dear friend dropped another bombshell.
“The deadline is tonight,” said McCrae’s friend.
“I thought, ‘You know me. I do,” McCray said with a laugh.
Precious has been cast in Season 14 of Relative Race
Months later, McCray was shocked to learn that she had been cast in the new season of Relative Race, a BYUTV reality show that takes four teams on a life-changing journey to find their long-lost relatives.
McCray is on Team Red for Season 14 of the series, where she travels across the country to meet her biological family — including through Louisiana and to Hawaii. But along the way, the Red Team must compete in a series of challenges before gaining more information that will lead them to their biological families.
“It felt like April 1stSt for me,” McCray said. “I felt like they were making fun of me the whole way until they called me that it was real.”
But McCrae was just beginning an adventure full of reality checks.
McCray grew up in Baton Rouge. “It was crazy! I’ve been here my whole life and I’ve never seen these people,” McCray said. “One of my great-aunts looked vaguely familiar and I was like, ‘I think I’ve seen you somewhere before.’
McCrae found family members through the show. “I found my aunt and my sister and more than that, but I can’t tell you more than that…”
She didn’t know any members of her biological family before the show.
“Emotionally, it was very freeing because I was struggling with the duality, if you will, of nature versus nurture. I’ve always been one, and I’ve always been raised differently. The way I’ve been is who I really am. It makes sense now,” McCray said.
If you’re thinking about searching for your biological family, McCray has some advice for you.
“Guard your heart and guard your mind. Prepare yourself mentally for the journey you are about to take before you even start it. Create scenarios of how things could go in the worst possible way. And then create scenarios for the best way it could go,” she advised.
She said you have to train yourself until you can handle whatever comes your way.
“Be grateful for where you are, even without them. And go through Relative Race so they can help you (find them.)”
Precious said her family loved her and raised her well. But meeting her biological family seems surreal.
“I’m still getting to know them as people, learning who they are and learning to love the things about them that make them so unique.”
If you want to learn more about this Louisiana girl’s story, watch McCray find members of her biological family in Season 14 of Relative Race. But be sure to have a box of tissues nearby when you’re watching, because the entire season is an emotional journey for everyone involved in the competition.