Rosie on Price: Ain't Gonna Happen

Mon., Jun. 25, 2007 10:02 AM PDT by Sarah Hall

The Price may be right, but the location is wrong for Rosie O'Donnell.

After meeting with the producers of the game show for a "nice lunch" last week, O'Donnell posted a video message on her Website Sunday, saying "it looks like it ain't gonna happen."

The problem apparently lies in O'Donnell's reluctance to relocate to Los Angeles, where The Price Is Right is taped.

"Here's the thing. I don't really need a job. I'm in a weird position. I don't need the money," O'Donnell said in response to a fan's email questioning her unwillingness to move.

"I know you're not allowed to talk about money in America, but I'm just saying I don't," she continued. "So to get my entire family uprooted from their lives and move them across the country so that I can have a fantasy childhood indulgence job just doesn't seem fair."

The former View cohost and her wife, Kelli, live outside Manhattan with their four kids: Parker, 12, Chelsea, 9, Blake, 7, and Vivi, 4.

"They all are in school, they have friends, we love their school, we love our community, our house, our life, our home," O'Donnell said. "If they were able to do [the show] in New York it would be a different story."

Speculation that O'Donnell would replace Bob Barker, who resigned as host this year after 35 years, began earlier this month, with the outspoken comic writing on her Website that she "sure would" accept the gig if it were offered.

Barker himself expressed confidence in O'Donnell's abilities to take over the show, saying at the Daytime Emmys that he had "no doubt" she could handle the job.

However, O'Donnell later backed away from her initial enthusiasm about the possibility of becoming the new host, admitting in a video message that she wasn't sure she was the right person for the Price.

"It would be good for me, but I don't know if it's right for them," she said.

Other hosts reportedly in contention for the Price gig include former E! personality Todd Newton (E! Online is a division of E! Networks), Mark Steines of Entertainment Tonight, John O'Hurley, George Hamilton and Drew Carey.

CBS and FremantleMedia have not commented on the show's future. The new season of The Price Is Right begins this fall.

With Price apparently out of the picture, O'Donnell seems to be in no hurry to line up additional prospective projects.

"i have no plans," she wrote on her Website.

Which is not to say that her schedule's completely clear.

FX has confirmed that O'Donnell will make a return to Nip/Tuck for several episodes, playing lottery winner Dawn Budge.