‘The Price Is Right’ host Drew Carey reveals what makes him ‘want to scream’ at contestants

“Come on down — to get yelled at!”

“The Price Is Right” host Drew Carey is coming clean about what makes him “want to scream” at contestants on the veteran CBS game show.

In an in-depth interview on the Max series “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” Carey, 65, told Wallace that he doesn’t understand the appeal of Plinko, the fan-favorite game — and that it drives him crazy at the methods contestants use to try to win money on the challenge.

When playing Plinko, a contestant takes chips, which they’ve won previously, to the top of a game board and releases them, one at a time, into slots at the bottom of the board containing money amounts.

Each chip is worth up to $10,000.

Drew Carey watches as a contestant drops her chips into the Plinko game hoping to win $10,000 on "The Price Is Right."
Drew Carey watches as a contestant drops her chips into the Plinko game hoping to win $10,000 on “The Price Is Right.” CBS
“I don’t get it, honestly,” Carey said. “People usually don’t win that much money on Plinko. They’ll win like $1,500, a grand, something like that.”

Carey then explained to Wallace how contestants can have a better shot of winning $10,000 when playing Plinko.

“Hardly anybody gets a 10,000, because they drop it like it, so you have to drop it like right under the ‘N,’” he said. “If you’re ever on ‘The Price Is Right,’ drop it right under the ‘N,’ not too high, just like right above the slot and just let it go.”

“Don’t throw it, don’t spin it. Just drop it and that’ll give you the best odds of hitting the $10,000 spot.”

Drew Carey has hosted "The Price Is Right" since 2007, when he took over from Bob Barker.
Drew Carey has hosted “The Price Is Right” since 2007, when he took over from Bob Barker. CBS
“You won’t hit it all the time,” he went on. “And I’m not allowed to say anything but in my head I want to scream ‘just drop it by the N!’ but I can’t do that.”

Wallace also asked Carey about the most common mistake contestants make when guessing the prices of merchandise featured on the show.

“So here’s a common thing,” Carey said. “So a lot of it’s just strategy like that we have a game called ’10 Chances’ where the first prize has two number on it. And we give you three numbers to choose from, but the price always ends in zero.”

Drew Carey with a contestant on "The Price Is Right." There are certain things he's not allowed to tell players during the game.
Drew Carey with a contestant on “The Price Is Right.” There are certain things he’s not allowed to tell players during the game. CBS
“But I’m not allowed to say it,” he continued. “[But] I just said that. I’m allowed to say there’s a secret to the game. And if you can figure it out, you’ll have a better chance of winning.”

He added: “But not everybody knows it ends in zero so they’ll put a three at the end or a two and I’m just …”

Wallace then told his viewers to “listen to what you’ve just heard” if they want to be successful on “The Price Is Right.”


Drew Carey during his appearance on “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” which streams on Max. CNN

“Yeah,” Carey replied, “I’m giving you a lot of insider tips.”

Carey has hosted “The Price Is Right” since 2007, when he took over from longtime host Bob Barker, who died in August 2023 at the age of 99.

“My attitude was I didn’t want to screw it up. Like, don’t let the show get canceled with me,” Carey told Wallace. “I was just hoping people would accept me.”

New episodes of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” drop every Friday morning on Max.