Why Drew Carey Initially Turned DownThe Price Is RightHosting Gig — and What Eventually Changed His Mind (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Drew Carey on ‘The Price is Right.'.Photo:Sonja Flemming/CBS

Sonja Flemming/CBS

WhenDrew Careywas approached to hostThePrice Is Rightin 2007, he was semi-retired and less than enthusiastic about returning to full-time after nine seasons starring onThe Drew Carey Show.

“I said, f— no,” the comedian tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I just wanted to be able to do things that were fun and interesting instead of having a ‘job-job’ or something I had to do every day, because I just had, after being onThe Drew Carey Showand everything, I was done with the idea of just being on a show forever.”

But the comedian, 65, was eager to buy a Major League Soccer team — or at least become part-owner of one.

“I knew how much money it was going to take for that to happen,” he explains. “Then one of the show’s producers asked me what my favorite thing to do was. I go, ‘I love leaving big tips when I go to restaurants.’ ‘Well, if you work onThe Price Is Right,you’ll be able to do that all the time for a living,’ they said. ‘Just give out things.’ That was the light bulb that went off in my head.”

Drew Carey on ‘The Price is Right.'.Michael Yarish/CBS

Michael Yarish/CBS

“I could just make a living giving prizes to people and being around happy people all day,” Carey continues. “I met [my agent] at a steakhouse. … And I go, ‘I think I want to be the host ofThe Price is Right.‘He shook my hand and goes, ‘Well, there’s your soccer money.’”

To Carey, Barker was a superstar. “When you’re at an animal rights event and Bob Barker showed up, you might as well not even have been there, because Bob’s the king of the room,” he says. “He walked in, and it was almost like he was walking out onstage.”

Drew Carey with Bob Barker on ‘The Price is Right’ in 2013.Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty

Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty

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Now, Carey understands hosting the iconic game show means he’ll be closely identified with it for the rest of his career.

“My lawyer told me, ‘You know, once you do this, that’s going to be it for the rest of your life. This is what you’re going to be known for,’” Carey recalls, adding, “I’m cool with that."

For more on Drew Carey, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.

The Price Is Rightairs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on CBS.

source: people.com