Drew Carey’s last words on 'Price is Right' are always ‘I Love You’ — it has an unexpected backstory

After being around for decades, hosts become synonymous with the iconic image of game shows. Each of them stands out for tropes, hosting style, wit, and signature lines as well. One of them is Drew Carey, who has spent almost two decades as the host of “The Price is Right.” When he took over in 2007, there were questions about his ability to reprise the role Bob Barker had excelled in for so long. He soon lay those doubts to rest and made a name for himself with a hosting style distinct from Barker. One thing that Carey does that Barker never did is sign off every episode with “I love you.” The veteran host recently revealed his reasons behind this.

According to a report in Yahoo! Entertainment, Carey says those three words quite frequently and believes that it should be a common practice everyone should adopt. “I say it to everybody. I think it should be as common as saying ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye.’ I text my female friends with a heart, I tell ’em I love ’em. And I tell their husbands and kids [the same thing]. There’s nothing wrong with spreading love and saying ‘I love you’ to people,” he explained.

“The idea that men especially are told they’re not allowed to express love or they’re not allowed to hug because they’ll appear weak or not masculine enough is ridiculous. It breaks my heart. I think it’s important to tell people you love them. It might be the last time you see them. You don’t know,” he added.

The veteran host knows what it’s like to unexpectedly lose someone. In 2020, Carey had to deal with the untimely death of his former fiance, Amie Harwick. The two were engaged briefly in 2018. Harwick, who was a successful author was murdered by an ex-boyfriend, who was arrested and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This was surely traumatizing for Carey, but the experience made him a more compassionate man.

“The Price is Right” host has been open about his process of moving on from Harwick’s passing. According to an earlier report by CBS News, Carey had revealed that his former fiance had reached out to him a few days before her death. She was found dead in the early hours after Valentine’s Day in 2020 which was a Saturday, while she and Carey exchanged a couple of text messages on Thursday.

“Valentine's Day was a Friday. I got a text from her on Thursday. [She] said, 'Hey, I know we haven't talked in a while, but I've been doing a lot of thinking about, you know, forgiveness, and I would love to get together with you and talk.' And I said, 'Yeah, I would love to do that. I love you,'" the veteran host revealed. “I say that to a lot of people but, I mean it. And I was really happy, like, 'Oh, it'd be great to see her again.'"

Unfortunately, the two would never meet again. "I just started crying … I just — I couldn't even stand up," Carey said when asked what his reaction was to his former fiance’s gruesome murder. It’s not surprising that he preaches compassion as the world certainly needs more of that today.