‘It’s A Trainwreck’: The Price Is Right’s Announcer Reveals The Faux Pas He Constantly Commits, And How The Producers Help Fix It

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The Price Is Right, often seen as an American staple and frequently ranked among the greatest game shows ever made, is still going strong in its 53rd season on the 2025 TV schedule. Despite its long-standing success, announcer George Gray admitted that it’s not always smooth sailing. He confessed to a recurring error he often encounters, which necessitates intervention from the producers.

George Gray, who has been urging enthusiastic participants to “Come on down!” for a whopping 14 years, is certainly an expert in his field by now. Yet, despite his extensive experience as the announcer on The Price Is Right, he admits there’s one aspect of introducing the next contestant that still trips him up from time to time. Gray shared this detail with TV Insider.

If your name is Andrea, I’ll refer to you as Andrea. If it’s Tara, I’ll call you by that name too. If your surname were Wojaho, I would address you as Smith. It can be quite confusing. Before we start the performance, I step out in front of the audience and perform a brief warm-up routine. During this time, I always remind everyone, “Please be aware that I may mix up your name during the show. I’ll do my best to pronounce it correctly, but there might be some mistakes, and I apologize in advance.

In simpler terms, it’s considerate to be understanding about the difficulty some people might have with certain name pronunciations in their job, especially when those names are tricky. At least, future contestants will now be informed and apologized to if George Gray struggles with their names. (Truthfully, during an exciting win like a new car or Showcase Showdown, I’d appreciate any name they call me!)

After 14 years of similar mistakes, it’s not surprising that “The Price Is Right” has devised a solution to aid their announcer. At first glance, this approach might seem straightforward, but it appears to be working effectively. Gray went on to say:

Each time I pronounce a name, regardless of how I get it wrong, someone on stage always reveals a large cue card displaying the person’s full name, ensuring that I can never mispronounce or misspell their name, making our system virtually infallible.

It’s quite understandable that this could become a recurring issue for him, given the circumstances. Unlike traditional game shows like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy!, he doesn’t only have to contend with three preselected contestants. Instead, George Gray is dealing with an entire audience who might potentially be Pinko players. He also highlighted that there are numerous ways to pronounce seemingly straightforward names, which can be quite challenging, much like other words with multiple pronunciations.

Sure thing!

Oftentimes, there’s confusion about whether to use “Caribbean” or “the Caribbean.” When I ask the producers, they sometimes respond with ‘tomato tomato’, implying that either can be used. However, some people might still argue that I’m using it incorrectly.

For George Gray, it’s fortunate that his slip-ups are hidden from the home audience, as they wouldn’t be as noticeable as when a contestant mistakes Drew Carey’s name or struggles to exit the stage. The announcer’s openness about his errors is admirable, and I’ll definitely keep those moments in mind whenever I watch the show from now on.

To experience the announcer making mistakes with contestants’ names and attempt to figure out if he mispronounces them, tune in to The Price Is Right every weekday at 11 a.m. Eastern Time on CBS.

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2025-06-09 01:08