'Price is Right' host Drew Carey once thought he was 'going to jail' — all because of Plinko

It was only Carey's second season in the show and he could have been part of a massive scandal.

PUBLISHED JUL 9, 2025

Screenshot showing Drew Carey on The Price Is Right (Image source: YouTube/The Price Is Right)

“The Price is Right” host Drew Carey is mostly loved by fans, but he has been called out for helping people win games. There was also a point early on in his career when he thought that he’d be removed from the show and even be sent to prison. The 67-year-old shared the story of a potential scandal involving the game Plinko that could have unfolded in only his second season of hosting the popular game show.

via GIPHY

Carey was on the SiriusXM show, Jeff & Larry’s Comedy Roundup, when he spoke about the incident. Turns out that before the taping began, the showrunners had filed a commercial to promote a video game version of the show. In that commercial, they had rigged a Plinko board with a fishing wire that would guide the chips to the $10,000 mark no matter where one dropped it. The only problem was that they forgot to take it out before the taping.

A college girl had won her chance to play the popular game and had earned four chips before going up the stairs to the top of the board. According to the host, the record for the game back then was a little over $20,000. This contestant dropped her first three chips, and they all landed on the $10,000 mark. This meant that she easily broke the record. Carey also revealed that the studio audience had gone crazy as a result.

Screenshot showing the chip in the $10,000 spot (Image source: Facebook/Meteorologist Ryan Belz) — Screenshot showing the chip in the $10,000 spot (Representative image source: Facebook/Meteorologist Ryan Belz)

“There’s a college girl that got to play Plinko, and she dropped her first three chips right down in the $10,000 spot. People were on their feet, jumping up and down and cheering. I mean, the crowd was going wild. She dropped the fourth chip, the floor director comes over, stops the chip, and leans into me, and he goes, ‘The game is fixed,’” he said as per a Screen Rant report.

The game had to be abruptly stopped as a result, and the contestant was taken backstage. Carey revealed that there was a five-minute meeting in the middle of taping in which the showrunners decided to award the girl the $30,000, and then once again play the game with all four chips. She was able to win an additional $1,500, so it all worked out well for her. The host, however, was scared for his future.

Screenshot showing Carey introducing the players to the Plinko Game — Screenshot showing Carey introducing contestants to the Plinko Game (Image source: YouTube | Price is Right)

“‘I’m going to jail. I’m losing my job. There’s gonna be a scandal,’ all these emotions going through my head,” he said. The fishing wire was so thin and invisible that not a single member of the crew noticed it until it was too late. Had it not been for the floor director, the show would have lost $40,000. Carey added that he treated him to a steak dinner after saving the show an extra $10,000.