Drew Carey on the ‘Price Is Right’ Contestants Who Surprised Him Most

Drew Carey has encountered all sorts of people after hosting “The Price Is Right” for 15 years. But there’s one particular group of contestants who really surprised him.

“We had one show that we thought we were going to get murdered on, and it was all geniuses,” recalled Drew Carey on the February 1 episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”

“The Price Is Right at Night: Geniuses” aired in mid-January. “There was a 13-year-old girl who was going to medical school,” he told Jennifer Hudson. “A 19-year-old international grandmaster at chess. The guy with the highest IQ at Mensa. Some neurosurgeon that invented a brain thing — I don’t even know what it is. It’s so over my head.”

You’d think that these super smart people would excel at the game — but it turns out that being book smart doesn’t necessarily mean you can win at “The Price Is Right.” “They made all the same mistakes that a regular audience would make,” Drew said.

“Then we had these superfans on,” he said, referencing “The Price Is Right at Night: Superfans” special airing February 1. “I’m not going to spoil the show for you, but they cleaned our clocks. We’ve been over budget ever since.

“There were people who kept spreadsheets!” he continued. “This guy would watch all the Bob Barker episodes — that’s all he does — and he keeps track of what tie Bob was wearing, what suit, who and what, he has a whole spreadsheet at home. That’s the kind of people that were on that show.

“If you want to see how the games are played, what the strategy is, watch this show… I never saw anything like it. It was like a tsunami coming in.”

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Later in the show, JHud teamed up with the show’s associate producer Tiffany (who previously won on the real “Price Is Right” with her mom!) to play “Hole in One,” a mini-golf-based game requiring players to guess the least expensive product to the most expensive product featured on a wall of grocery items.

It took three tries, but JHud was able to hit the ball in the hole!

After 15 years as host, Drew is still having a ball hosting the iconic game show. “It’s the greatest,” he told JHud. “You get to be around people who are having their best day and the most fun. All I do is laugh all day and smile.”

“The Price Is Right at Night: Superfans” premieres tonight, February 1, at 8 p.m. on CBS.