Manuela Arbelaez calls the mistake 'a brain fart,' admitting that she 'zoned out' when accidentally revealing the correct price of a car on the show.
- Apr 4, 2015
AceShowbiz - "The Price Is Right" model Manuela Arbelaez spoke up after making headlines with her expensive blooper. The 26-year-old accidentally gave away a $21,960 car to a contestant when she revealed its correct price before the game ended in the Thursday, April 2 episode.
In an interview on Friday, she admitted she lost her train of thought when she made the mistake. "It was a brain fart," she said. "I just zoned out. I literally did not see that coming. My body took over and reacted before my brain had a chance to stop it."
She went on recalling, "We took a commercial break, and I was still very overwhelmed. I was in tears. I thought, 'Well, this is it.' I asked the producers, 'Am I going to be fired?' They started laughing and told me of course I wouldn't be fired."
Arbelaez said the attention that people gave to her blunder has "been overwhelming, in a good way." She added, "I knew I was going to get a couple of tweets and videos with my name tagged on it, but this has gone viral. It's amazing how people reacted. It's been very positive. Everyone has been so nice and supportive."
To "Inside Edition", the Colombian beauty said, "I was mortified! I was mortified because I thought A) this is my last day at work, B) it's going to get taken out of my paycheck every week."
She then explained how it happened, "I thought [the contestant] only had one chance to guess the price of the car, and after I heard the buzzer, I'm like, 'Alright, game over.' When someone loses our natural reaction is to reveal the remaining tags to show the audience and the viewers the correct price."
The model who has been assisting on the game show for six years said the show's host Drew Carey had been very supportive. "Drew could not have been more supportive, same with the producers ... They thought it was the funniest moment and they embraced it," she said.
Feeling relieved, Arbelaez said, "At the end of the day, we're only human and I obviously made a very expensive mistake. But I made someone very happy!"
