Kansas woman says her big mouth helped earn her a spot on ‘The Price is Right’
The Wichita area will have someone to root for if they tune in to “The Price is Right” on Tuesday.
Melinda McBride, a self-described “loud, wild and crazy” mother and grandmother from El Dorado, will appear on the CBS game show as part of an episode set to air at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
She’s not allowed to reveal any details about what happened on the show, which taped in February in Hollywood, but photos provided by “The Price is Right” show McBride on stage with host Drew Carey, so it looks like she at least got the chance to play.
Her “Come on Down” journey started, McBride said in a phone interview, when her daughter, Tia Keplinger, asked her to come along to a casting call staged at Kansas Star Casino last July. Appearing on “The Price is Right” has long been a bucket list item for Tia, Melinda said.
McBride, 53, said she remembers watching the game show as a child with her mom and grandma. When Tia got old enough, she would join in.
The two went to the auditions, arriving right when they started and wearing matching bright yellow shirts. When producers approached the long line of people waiting to try out, they urged them to get loud and act crazy.
”They like to pick the people that are loud and crazy in line,” McBride said with a laugh. “And that’s no problem for me.”
Once inside, McBride and her daughter were each pulled aside and given 30 seconds to explain to producers why they should be on the show. They left and were told they’d be contacted if they were selected.
McBride said she kind of forgot about the whole thing. Then one morning, she got a call from producers saying she was chosen from the Kansas Star tryouts. Could she come to California for a taping?
McBride got to pick one person to come with her, but Tia couldn’t go. Tia has twin daughters with autism that McBride watches during the week along with her four other grandchildren, and Tia couldn’t leave them on short notice.
Mother and daughter were both disappointed. But McBride’s husband, Brian, agreed to join her for the trip.
He was excited to go, but a little uneasy.
“I think he was kind of nervous about my mouth,” she said.
The couple was picked up by a limousine and escorted to a hotel when they arrived in Hollywood. On taping day, they signed a bunch of papers, agreed to the rules of the game and turned over their cell phones.
McBride wore a T-shirt that said “Dear Drew, Nana Needs a Van.” Brian’s shirt said, “My Wife is Right.” Both shirts also included the symbol for Autism Awareness.
She is not allowed to say much about anything else that happened, but McBride couldn’t stop talking about how kind Carey and the producers were.
“In between commercial breaks, Drew Carey came out and would crack jokes and talk to the audience,” she said. “He was flipping amazing, and the producers were so super nice. They have it figured out They were so interactive.”
While in California, McBride and her husband got to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame and take a tour of celebrity homes.
It was all an amazing whirlwind, she said, and she can’t wait for all her friends in El Dorado to see the show so she can finally talk about what happened.
“It’s something I would not have ever done,” she said. “We go camping and hang out in our yard. We don’t do fancy stuff. So going and having that experience was just amazing.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 5:01 AM.
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