‘Price Is Right’ Host Makes a Shocking Confession About the Show

Next month will mark the 18th anniversary of when Drew Carey was first handed the reins of The Price Is Right on CBS. Receiving the reins from the legendary Bob Barker, he’s since become a fixture of daytime television in American households in his own right, spearheading a widespread upgrade of the classic game show with a shiny new look, special themed weeks, and a more inclusive approach. One thing he still struggles to do after over three decades on the small screen, however, is watch his old episodes. In an interview with Parade celebrating the release of a special 30th anniversary edition of The Drew Carey Show: The Complete Series on DVD, he opened up about his feelings seeing himself on television and how it has affected him throughout his career.

“Not a lot of my fans know [that] I don’t like watching myself on TV. I have a real hard time,” he says. His aversion to watching his performances started well before The Price Is Right, though, and instead stemmed back to his classic 90s sitcom. “I’ve sat in the editing room a few times on The Drew Carey Show, and I had to leave. I don’t do it that often because every time I saw it, I was like, ‘That’s what I look like? And that’s [how] I walk?’ I get so tired of seeing myself.” That quickly became a problem when one of the game show’s producers offered some feedback on Carey’s performance as host, which required examining footage from an episode. “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ He was like, ‘I know, I apologize.’ And he really had to twist my arm to make me watch myself, even on The Price Is Right.”

Though he’s best known now for The Price Is Right, Carey also hosted the classic improv comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, featuring the likes of Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie, from 1998 to 2007. Coupled with his long-running game show gig and nine-season run on his self-titled sitcom, that means there’s rarely a day when Carey can’t be found on television thanks to syndication. Yet, all three programs have been hard for him to go back to, even for just a moment. “So I’ve always been like this,” he continued. “I don’t watch The Price Is Right. I don’t watch The Drew Carey Show. Once in a while, I’ll put it on just like see a minute of it, or Whose Line.”

‘The Price Is Right’ Is in the Middle of a Big Year

Even if watching episodes back to adjust his performance isn’t something he’s a fan of, Carey still appears to be loving the job. Earlier this year, he got to host The Price Is Right through its landmark 10,000th episode, complete with bigger prizes than ever in celebration of the occasion. More recently, Carey shook things up a bit with an All Cash Friday that changed the prizes of classic games like Spelling Bee. When he sat down with Variety to discuss the milestone achievement in February, he described how he still feels like the “new guy” at the helm and shared his approach to the show as a steady hand keeping the spirit of the show and Barker alive. “I want to honor the show — certainly — and not forget about the importance of him and the path that he blazed,” he said. “It’s very important to keep the memory of Bob alive. I’m not replacing anybody. I’m just doing a show that he used to do.”

The Price Is Right airs weekdays on CBS and streams on Paramount Plus. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the beloved game show’s biggest moments.