NEW YORK (AP) – Veteran game show host Bob Barker will miss his chance to attend next month’s Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony because he’s getting a cancerous lesion removed from his back.
Barker, 81, said he’s had bouts with skin cancer in the past because of a lifetime of sunbathing, particularly his summer months spent shirtless growing up in South Dakota.
“I can attribute it to a misspent youth,” he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday.
Barker is scheduling his surgery around a week off from taping “The Price is Right,” when he was supposed to come to New York to see if he’ll win his 14th Emmy as best game show host.
“It’s not going to be a problem at all if I take care of it,” he said. “Anyone who spends a great deal of time in the sun, or spent time in the sun, should see a dermatologist once or twice a year.”
He’s in his 32nd year as the popular show’s host, three years removed from breaking Johnny Carson’s record for continuous performances on the same network show.
Barker has already committed to a 33rd season on CBS’s “The Price is Right,” and will decide in December if he can handle more of the tough taping schedule.
“I have been thinking about retirement for at least 10 years and every year I have so much fun that I think I’ll do it for one more year,” he said.
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