CBS canceled tapings of The Price Is Right this week after therapist Amie Harwick, host Drew Carey’s ex-fiancé, was murdered on Saturday, February 15. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 38-year-old “died of blunt force injuries to her head and torso suffered Saturday, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office. The report also listed ‘evidence of manual strangulation.’ The case is ruled a homicide.” Murder suspect Gareth Pursehouse, Harwick’s ex-boyfriend, recently was released from jail on $2 million bond; Harwick previously had a restraining order against him.
Price Is Right producer Fremantle told THR that tapings have been postponed until February 24 or March 2—although since TPIR episodes tape several months in advance, the show’s air schedule won’t be affected.
Harwick and Carey began dating in 2017 and were once engaged, but called the nuptials off months later. According to Harwick’s website, she was a marriage and family therapist who specialized in psychotherapy and sex therapy (some sites are referring to her as a “celebrity sex therapist”). She was also the author of the 2014 volume The New Sex Bible For Women; she published several articles about her areas of expertise and appeared on many podcasts. Carey posted on Twitter, “I hope you’re lucky enough to have someone in your life that loves as much as she did.”
Carey also tweeted out a Change.org petition, started by one of Harwick’s friends, that suggests improvements in laws that would further protect domestic violence victims. The petition points out that Harwick had a restraining order in place against a violent ex-boyfriend (presumably Pursehouse) from several years ago, which had expired. The boyfriend apparently recently ran into Harwick at an event, and started stalking her: “This man for years clearly needed treatment. She should have never had to be in this situation like so many other victims. The process to get a restraining order is very difficult and traumatic.” One of the petition’s recommendations is to eliminate expiration dates on restraining orders; it already has 35,000 online signatures.