Following Pat Sajak's retirement from Wheel of Fortune earlier this month, Drew Carey is officially the longest-tenured game show host on television.
The actor and comedian took over The Price Is Right from legendary longtime host Bob Barker in 2007, and it's now his longest-running TV gig, surpassing even The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line Is it Anyway?
The secret, Carey explained in a new interview with TV Insider, is simplicity.
"Everybody wants to see people win," he says. "When you’re watching sports or a drama on TV, you're yelling or thinking to yourself, 'Don’t date that man in the romantic drama! Don’t go in the basement! Don’t give that guy the ball! Why don’t you pass to this guy?'"
"Everybody plays along with everything they see and every story they hear. That's human nature. They're thinking, 'What would I do? How would I be in their shoes?' People eventually started cheering for each other. It's not my money — it’s CBS's money, and we’re all trying to take it together," he notes.
Drew Carey took over 'Price Is Right' hosting duties following Bob Barker's retirement in 2007.
The contestants, selected from members of the studio audience, are also a "favorite part of the show," according to the host.
"They’re normal people that live normal lives," he explains. "There are no CEOs, ultra-rich upper management. They don’t come to The Price Is Right. These are middle class, working class. Every religion. It’s a cross-section of America."
"Regular people are more interesting than celebrities," Carey continues. "Honestly... I learn more from them than I do from anybody."
However, not all of those lessons are positive. Carey admitted that contestants take the Price Is Right stage under the influence of drugs or alcohol "all the time."
"They’ll have a [marijuana] gummy or I’ll smell alcohol on their breath. Not unusual," he shares. "There was a guy here that was tripping on mushrooms.... He was a sketch [comedy] guy. I found out later when I went to UCB [comedy theater United Citizens Brigade] to hang out and they were like, 'Did you see that guy who claimed to be a skateboarding rabbi?'"
"He didn’t think he was going to get picked, and he totally tripped," Carey says with a laugh.
Drew Carey and a 'Price Is Right' contestant celebrate the game show's 500th episode on Feb. 1, 2010.
Since taking over the show from Barker -- who died last August at 99 years old -- Carey says his goal has been simply to continue the legacy of the beloved game show, which has aired on CBS since 1972.
"Ever since the beginning, I wanted to be a good steward. I learned that from when I was a church kid," he explains. "You got to be a good steward of the Earth and good steward of your family and a good steward of your money. And I want to be a good steward of the show, so I don't screw it up and wreck it from the very beginning. I was like, 'Don’t mess it up.' I just wanted to make sure it was always on."
But that doesn't mean he doesn't have some of his own aspirations for where the show could go in the future.
"I just like doing regular shows mostly. But what I want to do is go to Seoul, South Korea, and do a USO show," Carey shares. "Maybe do a whole week and have K-pop bands on as special guests to help play the prizes. Korea is one of our strongest allies, and I think it would help put a dent in some of the Asian hate that’s out there right now. I talked to people at USO, and they’re all for it."
As for his own retirement plans, Carey told ET last month that he has none.
"I'm not going anywhere," he shared. "I think Bob made a mistake by retiring. I'm not gonna make that same mistake. As long as my heart is ticking and they want me to be on the show, I think I'm gonna do The Price is Right. I just love it."
The Price Is Right airs weekdays on CBS.
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