Price is Right Contestant Sets Record With Most Money Won in Game

And now, joining us on The Price is Right is the person who won more money than anyone else on a single game show!

On the May 8th episode of the classic CBS game show, contestant Vanesa from Virginia won over $240,000 in cash and prizes – the biggest single-game win in the show’s 54-year run.

A retired veterinarian had a lucky day playing “The Lion’s Share” on BetMGM during a Mother’s Day-themed show. She won $2,500 and then $25,000, followed by two wins of $100,000 each. As a bonus, she also won a trip to Morocco with her mother, bringing her total winnings to $240,150.

Vanesa described the experience, from being called onstage to winning ‘The Lion’s Share,’ as incredibly surreal – like a dream come true that just kept getting better. She felt a mix of nerves and excitement, and said winning over $200,000 will completely change her life.

She said she plans to invest most of her winnings, enjoy a bit of it herself, and give her mom a special gift.

Vanesa won $240,150, breaking the previous single-game record of $210,000 set in 2016.

While achieving the largest prize in the show’s history is a major highlight, this year will bring another exciting development: a live version of The Price Is Right is coming soon, marking a significant change to the traditional format.

This year’s holiday special is a first for the show in over 50 years – it will be broadcast live! Host Drew Carey and the crew will have to stay sharp and keep things moving, as they won’t have the option to re-record any segments.

Since becoming the host of The Price is Right in 2007, following Bob Barker’s retirement, Drew has been consistently impressed by the show’s enduring popularity. He admits the enthusiastic audiences were a little daunting at first, but he quickly grew to appreciate them.

I remember him telling Variety back in 2025 just how incredibly loud it was! He said it felt like his hair was going to be blown back by the sound. He even used to wear an Apple Watch, but he had to change the settings because it kept alerting him that he was in a dangerously loud environment during the show. It was seriously that intense!

And of course, it was important to him to “keep the memory of Bob alive.”

“I’m not replacing anybody,” he explained. “I’m just doing a show that he used to do.”

For a look at all the behind-the-scenes secrets from The Price Is Right, keep reading.

As a lifestyle enthusiast, I always love seeing familiar faces step into fun roles! It wasn’t just Aaron Paul who brought some star power to The Price Is Right stage recently. Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy and TV personality Giuliana Rancic both got to model for the show, which was a dream come true for Giuliana. She’s a lifelong fan – she actually told me before her 2013 appearance that she’s been obsessed with the show since childhood and knew all the poses! It was especially meaningful because the audience that day was comprised entirely of breast cancer survivors – a truly heartwarming experience all around.

Many famous faces, including Seth Rogen, Kristen Bell, and Snoop Dogg, have also played the game to raise money for charity.

The long-running success of “The Price Is Right,” according to its beloved host Bob Barker (who passed away in 2023 at age 99), came down to two key elements. He believed the show’s bidding process immediately drew viewers in. As he told the Los Angeles Times in 1990, “The minute we put something up for bid and the contestant makes a bid, the viewer is involved.” That engagement, he explained, was the ultimate goal for any game show producer, and “The Price Is Right” achieved it exceptionally well.

He jokingly attributed some of his success to simply having a good hair day, noting that his show’s ratings improved when he stopped trying to hide his graying hair. He explained that early television technology wasn’t great at concealing flaws, and initially, he tried tinting his hair, but it briefly turned blue. Later, dyeing it resulted in red streaks. Eventually, he decided to let his hair grow naturally during a vacation. Upon his return, the show’s producers surprisingly told him he looked better with his silver streaks and encouraged him to embrace his natural color.

As a longtime fan, I always loved hearing how Bob Newhart handled the quick turnaround on his show! He used to tape episodes well in advance, and it led to this hilarious situation. He explained that one week they’d film an episode with him sporting his darker hair, and the very next episode, filmed shortly after, would feature his silver fox look. It aired the next day! He actually got a letter from a viewer who joked that he must have had a crazy night to change his hair color so quickly. It’s a funny story that really shows how unique and charming his show was.

It’s not always a glamorous exit for game show winners. Because they have to pay taxes on their winnings immediately—one person shared they had to pay around $20,000 in taxes on $57,000 worth of prizes—some winners actually leave without anything in hand.

One person who was awarded $10,000 actually refused the money – they didn’t want to share half of it with their former spouse!

In 2016, Mike Richards, who was then an executive producer, told The New York Times that all winners receive a tax letter detailing how much they owe. He also stated that since he began overseeing the show in 2008, every winner of the Showcase Showdown had successfully claimed their prize package.

Most of the prizes have already been prepared for shipping. According to Richards, the dinette sets and exercise bikes are stored in three large warehouses at CBS Television City. They also have over 37 cars ready to go in a separate private lot.

There have been a few embarrassing moments over the years. One instance involved model Manuela Arbelaez mistakenly awarding a $21,960 car to someone. As she explained to Inside Edition, she initially feared she’d have the cost deducted from her paycheck. This happened in 2015, and was particularly memorable as it occurred on her last day of work after six years with the company.

Thankfully, “Drew could not have been more supportive. Same with the producers.”

There are many memorable moments from the show, including the time a contestant happened to be in the restroom when her name was called. But Bob Barker considered the most talked-about incident to be in 1977, when a woman became so thrilled to be selected that her top slipped off.

A potentially awkward moment turned humorous thanks to a contestant’s great sense of humor. When comedian Danielle Perez, who uses a wheelchair, was announced as a contestant on a 2015 episode and revealed she was playing for a walk-in sauna and a treadmill, the audience was momentarily taken aback. She later told People magazine, “I just thought, ‘Oh this is perfect, you cannot write this, you cannot make this up.’” She pointed out it wasn’t even about her wheelchair, but the fact that she doesn’t have feet. Despite the unusual situation, she was determined to win, saying, “I was so energized by all the cash and prizes. You just want to win, no matter what it is.”

While some of the 73 pricing games have been updated for modern times, many still rely on older, mechanical systems. Carey often introduces the person working those systems – who is hidden behind the Freeze Frame setup – because union rules require extra pay if an employee’s face is visible on camera.

To ensure accuracy, we used real prices from retailers located in California. However, the companies producing these items haven’t revealed exactly which stores provided the pricing information.

That catchy theme song you likely have stuck in your head was created by Edd Kalehoff, who also composed the music for popular shows like Nickelodeon’s Double Dare and ABC’s Monday Night Football.

It seems like good things really do come in threes! Back in 2017, three contestants all surprisingly won exactly $1 on the Big Wheel. Even though the rules usually require a tiebreaker, each of them received $10,000. Then, when they spun again, two of them hit $1 again, earning an extra $25,000 apiece!

You know, it’s fascinating to me how much effort went into trying to beat the wheel! I’ve heard rumors that people even did formal research – like, the Royal Economic Society actually spent money studying it! They put together a guide, essentially trying to figure out the secrets to winning, which just shows how captivating the wheel was to everyone.

Plinko, a popular game on the show named for the sound the chips make as they fall, offers players a chance to win up to $50,000. Interestingly, the chips used in Plinko are quite rare – CBS has confirmed there are only 10 in existence, and they’re securely stored after each round.

According to one Reddit user, a contestant on the show had incredible luck. Apparently, the game was rigged with an invisible line shortly after being used in a commercial, guiding the chip towards the $10,000 slot. The contestant won $30,000, which caused a huge reaction from the audience and host Drew Carey. A producer quickly intervened, attempting to stop the chip as it fell, realizing what had happened. Although the segment was reshot, the contestant still got to keep her original $30,000 winnings, plus an additional $3,000 from the second attempt.

When Carey took over hosting in 2007, the show briefly became a bit easier for contestants. Producer Roger Dobkowitz explained in a blog post that he intentionally made it easier for players to win for the first few months, as viewers got used to the new host.

Oh my gosh, you won’t BELIEVE what he did! He totally admitted he just threw the prize budget out the window at the beginning! He was scheduling these super easy games, the kind where the right answer and price were obvious, because he wanted everyone to win! It was so generous… but it totally backfired. He said by January 2008, they were already $700,000 over budget! Can you imagine?! And the network wouldn’t give him any more money, so they had to start making the games way harder and the prizes… well, the cars got a LOT smaller. It was a disaster, but honestly, it makes him even more of a legend!

Carey always had a way to win people over. Whenever a contestant successfully bid on an item and moved out of Contestant’s Row, he’d personally give them $500 as a reward. By 2017, CBS calculated that he had given away at least $187,000 of his own money this way.

Interestingly, Barker was known for receiving kisses on the cheek from contestants – CBS estimated he’d gotten around 22,000 of them throughout his time on the show.

A man successfully predicted the contents of a showcase on a game show and later shared his story in a 2010 interview with Esquire magazine. Terry Kneiss, a former TV weatherman, and his wife Linda spent months studying past episodes of the show, using his knack for spotting trends and her mathematical skills.

He knew the exact amount to bid on the Big Green Egg grill and smoker ($1,175) and had a good estimate for the karaoke machine, pool table, and 17-foot camper in his prize package ($23,743), even including the extra $743 as a reference to the PIN number he and Linda shared. Because this had never happened before on the show—and shortly after a producer was let go—Carey and the team suspected the bidding was rigged. This led them to change how prizes are offered; for example, they now often change the car options to make pricing less predictable.

Despite everything, Terry recently told Esquire magazine that while he doesn’t regret his choices, he has occasionally questioned them, wondering about the consequences of his actions.

Oh my gosh, being on the show sounds…intense! I read that one past winner actually had to wait for four and a half hours before they even got inside the studio, and then the taping itself took another ninety minutes! Can you imagine?! And it’s not just the waiting – apparently, everyone is trying SO hard to seem excited that the screaming is deafening. Seriously, the production assistants have to hold up cue cards with the contestants’ names because nobody can even hear the announcer over all the noise! It’s absolute chaos, but I would love to be part of it!

Despite the demanding schedule, the show was surprisingly well-organized. Dobkowitz noted in his blog that his team of 11 people could create six hours of high-quality programming each week in only four days, with everyone working reasonable 8-10 hour days. He also highlighted their efficiency, explaining they enjoyed three-day weekends every week and had 20 weeks of vacation each year, making for a very happy team.

If you’re hoping to compete, you just need to convince producer Stan Blits. Despite what many think, contestants aren’t chosen randomly – Blits personally selects them, using his 40 years of experience to find a potential winner.

Oh my gosh, he told the New York Post back in 2013 that when he’s looking at people, he basically bounces around like a crazy person! He’s searching for that spark – real energy, genuine sincerity, and a funny bone. But the best ones? The ones who can match his energy, or even beat it, and keep that level up? Those are the people he’s really after! It’s so amazing how he describes it; it just shows how much passion he has for finding talent.

He advised hopefuls to appear relaxed and enjoy themselves, but warned against overdoing it. Trying too hard to impress – like jumping or making exaggerated gestures – won’t actually help your chances.

Keep in mind that you’re up against people who are incredibly determined to be on TV.

During a break in a show, a woman in the audience suddenly went into labor, Barker recalled to the Los Angeles Times in 1990. He asked the audience for help, but one woman protested, worried he would announce her name. Barker responded, assuring her they wouldn’t call any more names until she was on her way to the hospital.

2026-05-08 21:22

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