During the Season 54 premiere, one The Price Is Right contestant was so excited to win that they didn’t let go of host Drew Carey‘s hand.
Veronica, a retiree from Arizona and wife of former 1973–1977 wide receiver Steve Holden, won the sixth item up for bid: a pair of Razor scooters with two helmets. Her $1,800 bid came closest without going over, earning her the win with the actual retail price coming in at $2,250.
She got to come to the stage to play Bullseye for a chance to win a trip to Florence, Italy. The way the game works is that a contestant has to pick between five grocery items. They pick one and how many they want of that item. The price has to fall within the range given to them, which is between $10 and $12. If they don’t get it right the first time, they have three chances to try and get it right.
Veronica started off with two boxes of the Panda Puff Organic Cereal. The cereals were $5.79 each. That totaled $11.58, which meant she won on the first try.
She threw her hands up and squealed as she won. As Carey said that she was on her way to Florence, Veronica grabbed onto his hand and as he continued to talk, Veronica did not let go. Even when she threw her opposite arm in the air to cheer, she still grasped the host’s hand tightly.
It looked like Carey went for a handshake, but the contestant decided to grasp it instead. Carey just stared straight into the camera as she held his hand.
When the show faded out to go to a commercial, she pulled the host in for a hug as he said, “Hey, congratulations!”
Veronica went over $1.00 on the Showcase Showdown wheel, landing on $1.10 in total, so she did not advance to the Showcase.