“His advice was ‘Don’t try to copy me. Just make it your own show,’ ” Drew Carey tells PEOPLE about his predecessor Bob Barker

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Drew Carey. Photo: Ella DeGea/CBS

When Drew Carey took over The Price is Right hosting duties from Bob Barker in 2007, emulating him wasn’t an option.

“I knew I could never be Bob, and I wasn’t going to try to be Bob,” says the 63-year-old star of The Drew Carey Show, which ran from 1995 to 2004. “We went out to lunch, and his advice was ‘Don’t try to copy me. Just make it your own show.’ “

That’s exactly what Carey has done with the classic that first aired from 1956 to 1965 before being reimagined and relaunched in 1972 with Barker as host.

For the last 14 years, Carey has been at the helm of what is now television’s longest-running game show, and he’s handed out millions in cash and prizes — a part of the job he says never gets old.

“That’s the best when people win,” he says. “It makes me look forward to coming into work.”

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Kevork Djansezian/AP/Shutterstock

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Next season of The Price Is Right (premiering Sept. 13) marks the show’s 50th anniversary. For Carey, the upcoming season will be his 15th.

“There are so many things that have happened in my personal life while I’ve been on this show,” he says. “My son Connor is 16 now, and I’ve watched him grow up. In a lot of ways, I feel like I’ve been here my whole life.”

The Price Is Right airs weekdays on CBS (check local listings).