Free Backstage at The Price Is Right: Memoirs of A Barker Beauty by Kathleen Bradley

said angrily
    “Hold up, honey. I would never tell Barker anything like that,” I retorted.
    Dian continued chewing me out before I could get a word in edgewise. She was extremely upset and in tears. She never saw it coming ; it was so abrupt and cold. She was hurt and had no recourse. When she finally took a deep breath and a whimper, I took the opportunity to defend myself from her unjustifiable accusation. She listened long enough to realize that I was not the culprit. The more we talked, the angrier and more vindictive she became. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
    It turns out that Holly was the snitch that had revealed the truth about Barker and Dian’s relationship to Nancy and she had also confirmed Dian’s association with Smokey and Tim. Holly said that she’d done it after the meeting in Barker’s room following the dressing room incident because Dian had gone back to Barker and demanded that Holly and Janice be fired, and that really pissed Holly off.
    When Nancy confronted Barker about the relationship between him and Dian, she presented him with an ultimatum before their American Humane Association lawsuit had been settled. If he didn’t end their close, personal relationship immediately, she would withdraw her support from him and his attorneys in the pending AHA lawsuit, in which they were both named. Barker admitted to Nancy that he and Dian had nothing more than a sexual relationship for a little over a year—which Dian had initiated—and gladly agreed to call it quits.
    In a later interview when asked why he and Dian parted ways, Barker suggested that he broke the relationship off with Dian to avoid possible problems on the show.
    When we got back to work the following week, things began to change. There was an eerie feeling in the Green Room during the production meeting. People were whispering and carrying on a little differently. Dian was so gloomy and distraught that she couldn’t display an ounce of happiness all day. She was clearly hurt by the breakup. There was no doubt that she genuinely had deep feelings for Barker . She had once told me that she wouldn’t mind becoming Mrs. Barker one day. I’m not certain about how many people were aware of the breakup when the workday began , but by the end of the day , everyone knew.
    The show had been very interactive with the models, which allowed the viewers to capture glimpses of our personalities. Barker would sporadically intermingle with his Beauties and the contestants, prompting us to verbally respond to his jokes and/or make comments while we were on stage presenting a prize or if there was a double overbid by both contestants at the end of the show during the final showcase. This was the perfect way to kill time before the show ended and the music and credits started to roll. Barker would often assemble his Beauties in front of one of the doors and ask a few personal questions to which he thought our fans might like to know the answers. We enjoyed having this special time to express ourselves, letting the audience and fans get a better idea about who we were individually. However, all of that, and a lot more, ceased after Barker broke off the relationship between him and Dian.
    Barker distanced himself from the rest of the models, barely speaking or making eye contact at times. He had gone into a very protective mode. The executive producers and staff made it clear to everyone that if anyone had anything to say to Barker, they were to go through them first. He was not the same happy camper anymore. He became standoffish with all of the models and grumpy with the staff and crew. I think we all missed Dian’s visits to Barker’s dressing room more than he did.
    The Barker Beauties were silenced on air for a long time after the breakup. For almost four years, we didn’t say a word — until the 25 th Anniversary Special.

Chapter 10
    Six Degrees of Separation
    F rigyes Karinthy’s theory of six degrees of separation reasons that