Former “The Price Is Right” team members look back at Barker’s struggles on E!‘s docuseries “Dirty Rotten Scandals.”

The Price Is Right host Bob Barker was ‘ready to take his own life’ after wife’s sudden death

Former "The Price Is Right" team members look back at Barker's struggles on E!'s docuseries "Dirty Rotten Scandals."

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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March 18, 2026 1:27 p.m. ET

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Bob Barker and Dorothy Jo Barker in 1978. Credit:

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Grief led to a dark and difficult period for longtime *The Price is Right* host Bob Barker, a new docuseries reveals.

On E!'s *Dirty Rotten Scandals*, staff members behind what was known as the biggest game show in daytime, look back at Barker's struggles after the death of his wife Dorothy Jo Barker (née Gideon) in 1981. The couple met while they were in students at Central High School in Springfield, Mo., and eloped in St. Louis on Jan. 12, 1945, while Barker, who was training as a Navy fighter pilot during World War II, was on leave.

Dorothy Jo worked as a teacher for a few years before becoming a professional dancer. She toured the country with several dance troupes before eventually settling in California, where she got her start in commercial jingles.

When Barker began his gig as host of the CBS game show in 1972, Dorothy Jo became what was described as the host's "biggest cheerleader."

Bob Barker and Dorothy Jo Barker in 1975.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

But in early 1981, Dorothy Jo, a lifelong smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Just six months after her diagnosis, she died on Oct. 19 at 57 years old.

"They went to Hawaii in August and she was diagnosed with lung cancer and died two months later," Barbara Hunter, who served as a producer on the game show, recalled. "Bob really went into a funk after that. He was ready to take his own life. That's what he shared with me."

Holly Hallstrom, who was one of "Barker's Beauties" for nearly 20 years, recalled, "He was devastated, really, by her death. There was a long period of mourning. And then, all of a sudden, he became Mr. Man About Town, you know?"

She added, "He knew he was the star of the biggest show in daytime, and Dorothy Jo wasn't there anymore, keeping him reined in. It was like he was unleashed and turned into this narcissistic egomaniac."

Bob Barker and Nancy Burnet in 2000.

Alex Wong/Newsmakers via Getty

Things changed when Barker met and began dating Nancy Burnet, with whom he stayed until he died of natural causes in August 2023. He was 99, just four months shy of his 100th birthday.

The legendary Emmy-winning game show host had been hospitalized on two different occasions in recent years for severe back pain related to a prior injury. In 2015 and 2017, Barker also sought medical treatment after falling at his home.

Despite those medical complications, Barker remained a steadfast presence on television for decades. Throughout his career, he won 14 Daytime Emmy Awards as host of *The Price Is Right* and four more as executive producer, in addition to receiving a lifetime achievement Emmy in 1999. He retired at the age of 83.

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In a statement shared at the time of his death, Burnet wrote: "I am so proud of the trailblazing work Barker and I did together to expose the cruelty to animals in the entertainment industry, including working to improve the plight of abused and exploited animals in the United States and internationally. We were great friends over these 40 years. He will be missed."

*Dirty Rotten Scandals: The Price Is Right* premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on E! with two back-to-back episodes.

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