‘The Price Is Right’ Player Dishes on Drew Carey & Spills Show Secrets After $50,000 Win


The Price Is Right

The Price Is Right winner Daivs Darusman shared what host Drew Carey and the crew are actually like. Plus, he spilled other behind-the-scene secrets, like what prizes he took home and the taxes beind it.

Darusman went home with a bunch of prizes and many memories after winning on the June 11 episode of the game show. He first won a Canon digital camera, worth $2,499, on Bidder’s Row.

Darusman then came to the stage to play Take Two. This game has the contestant pick two prizes from the four on the board. There is a price on top of the board. The two prizes selected have to equal the target amount exactly in order for them to win all four prizes. Darusman had to choose from designer shoes, countertop appliances, exercise equipment, and a skee ball machine.

The target price was $7,034. He asked the audience for help and then decided to choose the designer shoes because “That’s what his wife would choose.” He then asked for help from the audience on the second choice by having them make noise and whichever item had the loudest cheer, that’s the one he would pick.

The crowd was the loudest for the skee ball game. The designer shoes were $2,535 while the skee ball was $4,499. This added up to $7,034, so he won all four prizes.

He then went on to win the Showcase. Darusman bid $35,000 on camping gear, a pair of air purifiers, and a 2024 Soul Red Crystal Mazda MX–5 Miata Sport. The actual price was $35,769, giving him a difference of $769, making him the winner. In total, his prizes cost $50,888.

After his big win, Darusman took to Reddit to do an “Ask Me Anything” session. One fan asked him “What was the staff like behind the scenes? Did you get to meet and talk to Drew?”

“The staff was incredibly kind!” The Price Is Right contestant shared. “From the pre-show interview, with a casting producer gathering 10-15 people in 1 room to ask peoples’ names, hometowns, and occupations, to the models and especially Drew, who matched our energy and was very kind and spoke with the audience during each commercial break.

“He made a few borderline inappropriate but hilarious jokes, one that comes to mind was an innuendo about shrub trimmers, one of the game prizes that left him visibly hesitant to joke further while on-camera.”

About his prizes, Darusman said that he took the cash, minus seven percent for California state taxes, for the car because he is an out-of-state resident. But, he walked away with “the camera (I’m a photographer/videographer), one pair of Louboutins out of three, a generator, and forfeited the rest due to taxes.” He also revealed that contestants turn in a size before the show, so they get the right size for shoes if they win.

“As much as I wish I could’ve kept everything, I realistically was not going to use or already had what I won and didn’t want to pay taxes on them,” Darusman said.