Bob Barker Model Holly Hallstrom left The Price Is Right in 1995, after 18 years with the show. She was told that it was due to her weight, but she says now that the actual reason was that she wouldn’t defend longtime host Bob Barker.
When her costar Dian Parkinson had an affair with Barker and subsequently sued him for sexual harassment, Hallstrom refused to come to his defense legally, the former model alleged in new E! docuseries Dirty Rotten Scandals.https://www.youtube.com/embed/PQdE7DR_rMw
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“I wanted nothing to do with it,” Hallstrom said in the doc, which proposes that the early years of the game show were rife with sexual harassment. “I was the only one that was asked to give a deposition and did not. I didn’t want to commit felony perjury, which is exactly what it would have been if I gave a testimony.”
“I refused to testify in court, to commit felony perjury for him,” Hallstrom told the outlet. “That was the final straw, but it’s against the law to fire an employee for failing to testify on your behalf in a court of law, so they could not fire me for that.”
Instead, she alleged, “Barker said I was overweight, and that’s why I was off the show.”
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to CBS for comment.
Hallstrom recounted in the doc that Barker had told her that she was leaving as part of an “early retirement,” which made her think, “I hate that man.”
“Basically, he said I was a fat liar and problematic and no one liked working with me, and that was just a bald-faced lie,” Hallstrom told PEOPLE. “And that’s when I said, ‘I’m not taking this. I’m not going quietly.’ And because I had not, like Dian, taken the settlement and signed the non-disclosure agreement, I could do that. I could speak out.”
When Hallstrom spoke to the tabloid show Hard Copy, Barker sued her for defamation. He dropped his lawsuit ahead of a trial, but she filed her own lawsuit for malicious prosecution against him, which they settled.
Hallstrom said the legal action had cost her a lot, and she waited until Barker’s death to speak out again.
The docuseries has also covered America’s Next Top Model and The Dr. Phil Show.
Dirty Rotten Scandals: The Price Is Right premiered Wednesday on E!.
“The Price Is Right” host Bob Barker was ‘ready to take his own life’ after wife’s sudden death
Bob Barker 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 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 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.
‘The Price Is Right’ Legend Bob Barker ‘Was Ready to Take His Own Life’ Two Months After Wife Dorothy Jo Gideon’s Cancer Death, New Doc Claims
Bob Barker reportedly became suicidal after the death of his wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Bob Barker legendary host of The Price is Right was married to his high school sweetheart from 1945 until her unexpected passing from lung cancer in 1981 at age 57.
Barker’s Darkest Moment
Gideon’s cancer came on quickly, Barker’s friend recalled in the new E! docuseries, Dirty Rotten Scandals. Barbara Hunter, who served as a producer on Barker’s game show, shared: “They went to Hawaii in August and she was diagnosed with lung cancer and died two months later.”
The death hit Barker especially hard.
“Bob really went into a funk after that,” Hunter revealed. “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 on The Price is Right, shared a similar memory: “He was devastated, really, by her death. There was a long period of mourning.”
Barker a Changed Man
However, Barker emerged from that period as a changed man, Hallstrom continued.
“All of a sudden, he became Mr. Man About Town, you know?” the model 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.”
Former The Price is Right model Dian Parkinson claimed for years that the white-haired host “put her through hell” by allegedly forcing her into sex acts during their two-year relationship from 1989 to 1991.
Barker Sued for Sexual Harassment
Bob Barker Parkinson filed an $8million lawsuit against Barker and show producers for sexual harassment in 1994, but she was forced to drop the suit in April 1995 due to legal costs.
A friend of the former game show model claimed to Radar, “She said, ‘I sacrificed my body to keep my job. I was Bob Barker’s sex slave — and there was nothing I could do about it.'”
Parkinson claimed the at-the-time 70-year-old TV star threatened to have her fired from her job unless she submitted to his sexual demands.
“She told me, ‘Bob laid it on the line — he said that if I wanted to keep my job on the show, I’d have to give him what he wanted,'” the close friend claimed.
Barker Denied the Allegations
Parkinson claimed Barker’s sexual abuse left her with a bleeding ulcer, and she quit to save her life in June 1993.
“I told everyone I left to pursue other avenues of my career,” she told the friend. “But my doctors told me it was the show and possible death — or quit … The only answer was to get away from that monster Bob Barker.”
Barker denied the allegations at the time, saying: “I didn’t force Dian Parkinson to have sex. She aggressively pursued ME — and told other people on the set she was going to be the next Mrs. Bob Barker!”
The aging legend eventually retired from hosting duties on The Price is Right in 2007 and was replaced by TV actor and comedian Drew Carey.
Why Did ‘The Price is Right’ Host Bob Barker Never Have Children?
Bob Barker is back in the news following the release of the new E! docuseries Dirty Rotten Scandals, which concludes tonight (Wednesday, March 18) with a two-episode instalment on The Price is Right.
The docuseries details behind-the-scenes drama on the iconic game show, including accusations of sexual harassment from female staff members leveled at male crew members. Barker, who hosted the show from 1972 to 2007, was not accused of any inappropriate behavior.
However, the episodes do dive into the later game show host’s personal life, including his marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Dorothy Jo Gideon. Barker and Gideon tied the knot in 1945 and were married until 1981, when Gideon sadly died at 57 after a short battle with cancer.
Barker went into a suicidal “funk” following his wife’s passing, according to former PIR producer Barbara Hunter. However, two years later, he met Nancy Burnet at an animal shelter event in Orange County, California. The pair began dating and spent many years helping animals across the world.
The legendary host never had children with Gideon or Burnet, a topic which he’d touched on throughout his lifetime. In a 2007 interview with Esquire, Barker said he and Gideon “didn’t have time for children,” noting that they were kept busy caring for several animals, including cats, dogs, and ducks.
“I don’t regret it, not when so many of my friends are having so much trouble with their children,” he added. “I have 13 ducks, and that’s a lot of work.”
Barker was well known for his animal rights activism and ended each episode of PIR with the phrase, “Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered.”
Despite not having kids of his own, Barker revealed in his 2009 memoir Priceless Memories that he enjoyed working with children on set. “Little kids can be marvelous contestants,” he wrote, per Hello. “If a little girl or little boy will talk in a natural way with you and you can’t get laughs with him or her, you’re in the wrong business.”
Following his wife’s passing, Barker continued his work with animals, which eventually led him to meet Burnet. Barker died in August 2023 at 99 years old, following several years with Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that Burnet and Barker had kept hidden from the public.
“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,” Burnet said following Barker’s passing.
The Price Is Right, weekdays, 11a/10c, CBS, stream next day on Paramount+
Dirty Rotten Scandals: The Price Is Right, first two episodes premiere on Wednesday, March 18 at 9 p.m. ET on E!
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