Bob Barker “went into a funk” after wife Dorothy Jo Gideon’s death, his former “Price Is Right” colleagues revealed in E!’s new “Dirty Rotten Scandal” docuseries.
The host “was ready to take his own life” when his partner passed away in 1981, two months after her lung cancer diagnosis, according to producer Barbara Hunter.
“That’s what he shared with me,” Hunter claimed, according to People.
One of the game show’s models Holly Halstrom recalled Barker being “really … devastated” by the loss and enduring a “long period of mourning.”
However, she alleged, “Then, all of a sudden, he became Mr. Man About Town. 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,” Halstrom continued.
Barker and Gideon were high school sweethearts, with the duo tying the knot in January 1945.
The couple had been married 36 years when the 57-year-old lost her lung cancer battle.
Barker moved on with girlfriend Nancy Burnet after Gideon’s death, but did not remarry.
The longtime couple became an item in 1983, and Burnet honored her late partner in a touching statement after he died of natural causes at 99 in 2023.
“We were great friends over these 40 years,” she told Page Six at the time. “He will be missed.”
Barker was the longest-running host of “The Price Is Right,” emceeing the show between 1972 and 2007.
In “Dirty Rotten Scandal,” Halstrom addressed an alleged affair Barker had with model Dian Parkinson amid his relationship with Burnet.
“It took a toll,” she said (via USA Today). “There was fighting on the sets, yelling, and it was massive. And it ultimately, I think, destroyed ‘The Price is Right.’”
Halstrom, additionally, accused Barker of silencing women who complained of sexual harassment.
“If anyone had gone to Bob because Bob was in charge of the show and said, ‘I have a problem. I have a complaint,’ he would have told her to get over it or look for a new job,” she said.
“Dirty Rotten Scandal” premieres on E! Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
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