'Price is Right' model pulls off a sneaky prank on host Drew Carey that he never saw coming

Although hosts such as Drew Carey and Bob Barker became the faces synonymous with “The Price is Right,” there are other members of the crew that play an important part in making the show iconic. Apart from the interactions between the host and contestants as well as the audience, the camaraderie between the models and Drew Carey also keeps things entertaining. One of the most popular models on the show is Manuela Arbelaez and she once played a hilarious April Fool’s prank on the host.

She had snuck into the studio and gone straight to the make-up room without anyone noticing. Her objective was to look like a crew member and surprise Carey as he was hosting a game with a contestant on stage. “People don’t know what’s coming. People are not ready,” she said as per Monsters & Critics in a video released on Instagram by the show’s official handle. The make-up artists worked their magic and made her completely unrecognizable.

She even walked past Carey before the show started recording just to make sure that he didn’t understand what was going on. When the host was on the stage, Arbelaez popped up from behind one of the game’s panels just after Carey said, “Say hi to one of our most important crew members.” It took him a while but when the 66-year-old figured out what was going on, he simply couldn’t control his laughter.

Fans on social media loved the prank and joined the fun in the comments section under the video. “Even all that stuff can't keep that cuteness from shining through,” one user called @billycarter1a commented. “Saw this episode and didn't even realize it was Manuela. Nice disguise,” @jlosito59 added.

Manuela Arbelaez and Drew Carey share a special bond. They have both been on the show for several years now and more importantly, they have always had each other’s backs. This was visible when she accidentally revealed the correct price of a car to a contestant and ended up giving away the big prize. Something like that could have easily landed her in a soup and she was scared of the consequences she would have to face. However, she always had a friend in the host Carey and he stepped up to reassure her.

"I thought, A: This is my last day at work. B: They're going to take it out of my paycheck every week. I thought that was it for me,” she said according to a report in E News. "Drew [Carey] could not have been more supportive. Same with the producers. They embraced it and said, 'We're not going to pick it out. We're going to air it as it happened."

Thankfully, everyone on the show believed that it was a hilarious moment, which later went on to become iconic in the show’s history. But in her time of fear and uncertainty, Carey was there to support her and that meant a lot to Arbelaez.