'Price is Right' host Drew Carey makes a bizarre joke about model that backfired spectacularly

Model Manuela Arbelaez may have been involved in a gaffe that allowed a contestant to drive away in a car without giving the right answer, but that hasn't stopped her from becoming a fan favorite on “The Price is Right”. This is why, when host Drew Carey made a joke at the expense of her past on the show, fans did not hide their displeasure.

While the model was bringing the dice to a contestant, Carey said, “Manuela used to work in a casino in Colombia back when she was young,” he said. “She can’t talk about it.” Even though the host said it as part of his witty comments on the show and Arbelaez took it as a joke, viewers called out the host over the incident during an episode in November 2024.

It all went down when a contestant, Michelle, had a chance to win a car if she managed to land the car symbol on all five dice. On her first roll, she got three cars and two $1,000. Carey explained to her that she could either step away with the money or roll the two dice one more time. If she gets two cars, she will win an automobile. Michelle got the two car symbols and won the prize she wanted as the audience delivered rousing applause. But when this clip was shared on the official Instagram handle, some fans were unhappy with what Carey said about his co-worker.

“He has beef with Manuela,” read the top comment with more than 10,000 likes by @moonman420. “Man he didn’t have to roast Manuela like that lol,” read another comment by @tonygerardwilson. There were many who understood that what Carey said was part of the show's humor. “Sounds like he’s joking around. People take things too serious,” read a comment by @mern1960. According to TV Insider, Arbelaez wrote “Shhh” with a laughing emoji, clarifying that she wasn’t offended.

Manuela Arbelaez has been on the show for quite some time and while she is a fan favorite, she has made her fair share of mistakes in front of the camera. Perhaps the most memorable out of them all was when she gave away a car. The contestant had multiple chances to guess the right price of the automobile, but Aebelaez revealed it right after she got it wrong the first time. Since the contestant had more attempts and the game wasn't over, the revelation meant that she got the car.

“I was mortified. I was mortified because I thought, A, this is my last day at work, and B, they’re gonna take it out of my paycheck every week. At the end of the day, we’re only human, and I made a very expensive mistake, but I made someone very happy.” she said years later about the incident as per Cinema Blend.

The model knew that she had made a huge mistake but it was an honest one. Host Drew Carey laughed the moment off and to be fair to the showmakers, they gave the car to the contestant. Despite being a fumble, it’s a fan favorite moment and it made Arbelaez even more relatable for the viewers.