‘Let’s Make a Deal’: Wayne Brady Admits ‘Lots’ of Contestants Have Been Drunk or High

Wayne Brady has been dishing some behind-the-scenes details about Let’s Make a Deal, including how some contestants appeared on show drunk and high.

The game show host recently spoke with People at the CBS Fest 2025 in Los Angeles, California, where he admitted in “the early days of the show”, they “had a lot” of people arriving at the tapings under the influence. However, he said they haven’t had that much recently.

“I’d like to think that our audiences show up ready to play because they know the kind of show they’re getting involved in,” Brady said. “They know that it’s like an improvisational show. They know the women might ask them to get up and sing. They know that I’m interacting with them. So I think people come lucid because they don’t want to look silly.”

While the comedian said he wants contestants to bring “energy,” he noted that they need to be aware and “listen” to him. “What I mean by that is [listen to me] when I’m explaining the rules to a game — [as in] what’s going to happen,” he explained. “It’s a lot. There are lights. You are in front of an audience. There are a lot of people that have never been on camera [before] … So I say, ‘Listen.’”

He added, “And at the end of the day, follow your gut. When everyone turns around to ask the audience, ‘What should I do?’ Great. Nobody knows. So if you’re going to get zonked, you should get zonked on your own terms.”

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The Whose Line Is It Anyway? alum has been hosting Let’s Make Deal since 2009. He recently starred in the Freeform reality series Wayne Brady: The Family Remix, which was canceled after one season. Brady’s next gig will see him joining the Broadway cast of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, taking over the role of Harold Zidler from Austin Durant.

His Broadway run starts on July 22, so right now, Brady says he is just relaxing. “My birthday on June 2, so I just want to enjoy my summer,” he shared. “I want it to be a summer where I feel completely positive and ready to take on this next year.”