'Price is Right' host Drew Carey's unexpected reflexes prevented a 'fishy' accident on set

Things could have been real messy had the host not reacted in time and prevented the setback.

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April 2 2025, Published 8:46 a.m. ET

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Drew Carey has been the host of “The Price is Right” for over a decade now, and he knows his way around the stage very well. Apart from hosting, he also has the job of making sure nothing goes wrong if it’s in his control. In a recent episode of the show, the host narrowly prevented a huge mess that could have happened on set, as per a Monsters & Critics report. He had to keep his eyes open and be sharp, and that is exactly what he did.

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The contestant at the time was a woman named Heidi, and she was playing the "Pass the Buck" game for a chance to win a car. The rules of the game are simple. Six number cards are shown, and behind one of them is the car. In the other five, there is a $5,000 card, a $3,000 card, a $1,000 card, and two "Lose Everything" cards. Contestants have to avoid the latter.

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Contestants are given one free pick and are then shown the prices of two items. They have to guess the price of which item is a dollar less. If they get it right, they win one more pick. This happens twice, so a contestant can get a maximum of three picks. The first two items shown to Heidi were a box of cereal bars and a tube of hair-sculpting gel. The contestant picked the cereal bars, and that was the right answer.

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As Carey spun the table to show the next two items, one of them almost fell off the table. The host did well to catch it just in time, as it was a bottle of fish sauce. Had that fallen and shattered into a million pieces, the entire set would have stunk of fish. Nobody wants that. “I almost sent that flying off,” the host said. The other item was a bag of Spanish rice. The contestant guessed the fish sauce, which was once again correct.

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Heidi now had three chances to win the car. “Pick a number, Heidi. You have three picks altogether,” the host said. “I will take it off for you.” The contestant looked to the audience for help before coming to the board. “Number 2, please,” she said as she waited impatiently. The host took off the number from the board, and it was revealed to be the car. She did not even need all of her picks to win what she desired.

Congratulations, Heidi,” the host said as the contestant ran to the car and celebrated with the model. Fans loved the moment and made their thoughts clear in the comments section of the clip on YouTube. “I was glad she won. She won the showcase too. Congratulations Heidi!” one user commented. “Terrific win, and Heidi ended up having a great day today,” another user quipped. “Great job here on Pass the Buck! Earned both extra picks, but picked the car right away! I’m surprised we didn’t hear Drew ask her if she wanted to use the extra picks to win extra cash,” wrote a third fan.

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