'The Price Is Right' Hosts: Meet Drew Carey and Bob Barker

Daytime TV viewers see Drew Carey’s famous face every day on their screens on The Price Is Right, but the iconic TV star isn’t the first to appear on the hit game show. Before Drew, the Emmy Award-winning program was emceed by the legendary Bob Barker.

Bob hosted the current version of the game show from the time it premiered in 1972 until his retirement in 2007. When Bob called it quits, he had starred on 6,586 episodes of The Price Is Right over 35 years.

To find a new host, CBS flipped through their Rolodex of potential TV personalities — Rosie O’Donnell was interested in the position too — before landing on Drew. The Whose Line Is It Anyway? alum announced the news on The Late Show With David Letterman that July.

“I’m the new host of The Price Is Right,” he told host David Letterman. “I realize what a big responsibility this is. It’s only a game show, but it’s the longest-running game show in American television, and I plan to keep it that way.”

Even though Drew was looking forward to the big opportunity, he revealed he didn’t exactly jump at the thought at first. “[CBS] approached me right after the pilot for Power of 10 and I said, ‘No,'” he recalled. “Then they called me a month later … I met with them and stuff, and we’ve been negotiating ever since. It’s [now] a done deal.”

Fans were obviously heartbroken over Bob’s exit, but even the former Truth or Consequences host was optimistic about having Drew as the new star of the show. “I’m cool with it,” Bob told the Associated Press of CBS’s casting choice.

Though Bob said he wasn’t too familiar with Drew’s work, he still had kind words for his successor. “I understand he ad-libs very well and that he has a very nice, friendly way of working, and I think both of those would be helpful to him on The Price Is Right,” he shared.

Now that it’s been over 13 years since Drew took over Bob’s illustrious gig, fans can’t believe how quickly time has passed. Both men are still the only two people to have hosted the current daytime edition of The Price Is Right, though emcees Dennis James and Tom Kennedy hosted nighttime shows in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Scroll through the gallery below to learn more about Bob and Drew!

Bob Barker

In 1956, Bob got his start in TV when he landed the spot as host of Truth or Consequences. He starred on the game show for nearly two decades until 1974. Aside from his 35-year run on The Price is Right, Bob also presented 1967’s The Family Game and That’s My Line from 1980 to 1981.

Bob also appeared in Hollywood films and TV shows, including 1960’s Bonanza, 1979’s Overlanders, 2007’s How I Met Your Mother and more.

In 1945, the Priceless Memories author married his wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon. The couple, who never had any children, were together for 36 years until her death in 1981. Even though it’s been decades since Dorothy Jo died, Bob “never had any inclination to remarry.”

“[Dorothy] was my wife,” he explained on Good Morning America in 2007.

Drew Carey

Drew got his big break in Hollywood as a stand-up comedian over a decade before he began hosting The Price is Right. In 1995, he got his own primetime sitcom on ABC titled The Drew Carey Show, and three years later in 1998, he started hosting the original American version of the improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? That same year, he pulled in $45.5 million, according to reports.

Throughout his career, Drew has worn many different hats. On top of hosting and comedy, he’s a producer, actor, director and writer. He’s appeared in hit TV series like American Housewife, The Simpsons, NCIS, Family Guy and many others.

Thanks to his nearly five-year romance with ex-fiancée Nicole Jaracz, Drew is the loving stepdad of her teenage son, Conner. Though he is not his father by blood, the TV star always referred to the youngster as his “son.”

Drew was also previously engaged to his other fiancée Amie Harwick. The pair were together for two years before they split in 2018. The sex therapist tragically died less than two years later in February 2020.

At the time, Drew paid tribute to his former lover. “Back in September 2018, I was in a beautiful, great, best relationship of my life with a woman named Amie Harwick,” he shared during an episode of his Sirius XM show Friday Night Freak-Out. “She was a sex therapist and mental health advocate. She had a PhD and a master’s degree, and she was beautiful and fun, and cared deeply about people and improving their lives and was just a joy to be around. I was so in love with her.”