Gwendolyn Osborne

Gwendolyn Osborne (born August 7, 1978 in Bath, United Kingdom, sometimes credited as either Gwendolyn Osborne-Smith or Gwendolyn Smith) is a British-American model, actress, and singer. For 12 years (2005-2017), she appeared as one of the models on The Price is Right and was recognized as "the longest-running woman of color on a daytime game show".

Early Life & Career (Modeling and Acting)[]

Gwendolyn hails from Bath, United Kingdom, she comes from Jamaican and British ancestry and has two older siblings. As a child growing up, Gwendolyn was a bit of a tomboy and enjoyed the outdoors; amongst her activities outdoors, she especially enjoyed skiing, hiking, water sports, 4-wheelers, horseback riding, and biking.

Her diverse family upbringing prepared her for a future in one of the most diverse industries in the world: Entertainment. Gwendolyn came to America when she was a teenager and attended the New World School of Arts in Miami, Florida. Being British and new to America, she sometimes faced difficult cultural challenges as people constantly asked her where she was from and shifted all their focus and energy on that rather than taking her seriously. Not one to give up so easily, Gwendolyn was determined to prove to everyone that she could be a team player and succeeded at doing so; she showed everyone she was serious about her art and the challenges went away instantly.

Gwendolyn says her older sister who influenced her interest in the entertainment field as her sister attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theater of Arts, sang and danced, and was a huge fan of the TV show Fame. Gwendolyn also says she and her sister would imitate what they saw on Fame, dress up and make up stories and that's when she was bitten by the entertainment bug.

In 2001, after living in Miami since moving to the states, Gwendolyn, a single mother to a young daughter named Monique, was ready for a new challenge and a change of scenery. She and her daughter packed up and made the journey to the west coast; setting their sights on Los Angeles and upon arrival, Gwendolyn immediately noticed that LA was far different from Miami. Bound and determined that ever to make a name for herself, as well providing for her daughter, she hit the pavement auditioning for TV and movie gigs. One of her very first was appearing in the movie Any Given Sunday and became a SAG member afterwards and soon began work with LA Models.

In addition to her work with LA Models, Osborne continued to audition for other TV and movie gigs. She appeared in the 2002 movie Snow Dogs and soon landed a contract role on a television series titled Ocean Ave. Her character on the series was Jade Dominguez, a Hispanic as Gwendolyn comes from mixed heritage. Ocean Ave was an hour-long Swedish-American soap opera that only aired in Sweden and Gwendolyn says she learned about the day-to-day operations of a TV show and enjoyed the experience.

After Ocean Ave, Gwendolyn continued to book other TV and modeling gigs. On the acting front, she appeared in guest-starring roles on shows which include Charmed (1998 version), Eve, and Huff. She also made a brief appearance on a 2003 episode of the primetime reality game show series on NBC titled Dog Eat Dog hosted by Brooke Burns (loosely based on the British series of the same name) wearing a pink neon bikini as part of the introduction of an upcoming challenge that involved a contestant having to walk down a balance beam (suspended above a water tank) in six-inch stiletto heels as Gwendolyn had demonstrated (not above the tank) to show the contestants on how it's really done.

In 2004, she became a member of Team Dream during Lingerie Bowl I.

The Price is Right (Audition and Later Comeback) & Personal Life[]

One year before she ACTUALLY began appearing as a Barker's Beauty on the television game show The Price is Right during it's 33rd season on the air, Gwendolyn had previously auditioned for the show during it's 32nd season but unfortunately did not make the cut. She continued to book other gigs including a role as a Forrester model on the soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful and as luck would have it, a stagehand from Price happened to be working as a stagehand over at Bold and Beautiful (as a fill-in) and noticed Gwendolyn's body of work on the soap and was impressed. The stagehand then convinced the staffers at Price to give her another chance at auditioning to be a Barker's Beauty and this time around, she nailed it as she made her televised Barker's Beauty debut on (airdate) March 31, 2005; first starting out as part of a small group of guest models to appear on the series in addition to the show's group of semi-regular rotating models.

After the completion of Price's 33rd season, Gwendolyn made 25 appearances as a Barker's Beauty and the show's producers liked Gwendolyn so much, she was upgraded from being a short-term guest model to becoming part of the group of semi-regular rotating Barker's Beauties at the time (Lanisha Cole, Rachel Reynolds, Brandi Sherwood-Cochran, Shane Stirling, Rebecca Mary Pribonic and Gabrielle Tuite).

Gwendolyn was not only happy to become the newest member of The Price is Right family but also lucky in love; she began seeing retired NBA player (and then-current TNT Basketball analyst) Kenny "The Jet" Smith as the first met at a charity event back in 2004 and soon began dating. After two years of dating, Gwendolyn and Kenny decided to make it official, as on September 2, 2006, the happy couple exchanged wedding vows (with Gwendolyn taking his last name) in a private ceremony with family and friends.

Now as wife and mom (her daughter Monique & step-mother to husband Kenny's two children from his first marriage), Gwendolyn continued to appear as a rotating Barker's Beauty on The Price is Right as the show would soon move into a new era: after hosting the series for 35 record-breaking years and 50 years in television and broadcasting and winner of 19 Daytime Emmys (one of them being the proud recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award: 1999), veteran Bob Barker announced his retirement as he hosted his final Price is Right episode on (airdate) June 15, 2007 and later that October, his predecessor, actor and comedian Drew Carey was introduced to the Price is Right audiences for the very first time, making his national televised debut on (airdate) the 15th as Gwendolyn was one of the models present during his debut week (and in addition to Carey's arrival, the show itself underwent a complete makeover as a new, more flashier set was introduced and the show's iconic theme music received a tempo-style upgrade).

Only a few short months into Drew's tenure as the new host, Gwendolyn announced that she and husband, Kenny Smith, were expecting a child. Soon as she began to show, Gwendolyn's wardrobe differed from the other models but she continued to appear as needed. On (airdate) March 19, 2008, Gwendolyn makes her final appearance as she goes on her maternity leave and 9 days later, on the 28th, she gave birth to a baby boy: Malloy Adrian Smith (named after husband Kenny's High School). Gwendolyn would make her return to the Price is Right stage sometime in the following season. Her family members would later make on-stage appearances on special-related episodes in later seasons as son Malloy was first introduced on (airdate) February 4, 2010 and two years later, on (airdate) May 11, 2012, which was a special Mother's day-themed episode, Malloy makes his second appearance as well as Gwendolyn's husband Kenny as the family announced they were expecting another child (Kenny and Malloy also help Gwendolyn present a special Mother's Day-related showcase later in the show) and a few months later on September 29th, Gwendolyn gave birth to her third child: London Olivia Smith.

Price is Right Departure[]

Over the course of the next several years, Gwendolyn continued to appear as one of the models on The Price is Right as well as taking on other television and movie projects, including a short-lived reality show surrounding herself and her extended family; In 2015, Gwen and her family starred in their own reality series titled Meet the Smiths on the TBS network, which debuted on April 3rd. The family-friendly series showcased the home life of herself and her husband, Kenny as well as their five children: Monique, Malloy, KJ, Kayla and London as they wanted to show viewers how a tight-knit blended family can work and play together and live their lives. The show also highlighted the challenges of raising an extended family with each parent bringing a different style of parenting and discipline to the table. The series only lasted 6 episodes and ended it's run on May 8th.

Two years after their short-lived reality show, as well as being involved in other projects (both on and off-camera), Gwendolyn decided to take a step back and made a difficult decision, after 12 seasons as a model on The Price is Right, she took to social media to announce her upcoming departure from the long-running game show. The British Beauty made her final appearance on (airdate) October 17, 2017 as she was acknowledged and bid farewell by host Drew Carey (as she handed him the microphone as the start of the show) and presented her with a bouquet of flowers at the end of the show. Gwendolyn also presented a special showcase that was themed around her (which included a trip to her homeland of London, England) as fellow models Rachel Reynolds and Manuela Arbeláez appeared at the end to say goodbye to their longtime friend and colleague.

In her 12 years as a Price is Right model, Gwendolyn has made 730 total appearances (Season 33: 25, Season 34: 53, Season 35: 61, Season 36: 41, Season 37: 57, Season 38: 86, Season 39: 100, Season 40: 105, Season 41: 33, Season 42: 32, Season 43: 46, Season 44: 42, Season 45: 49) and has now gone down in history as "the longest-running woman of color on a daytime game show" (surpassing Kathleen Bradley and her 10-year stint as the first permanent African American model on Price).

With Gwendolyn's departure from The Price is Right, Rachel Reynolds, since June 2003, now remains as the last remaining model of the series since the tenure of 35-year veteran Bob Barker and now holds the record for being the second-longest serving model in the show's iconic history behind Janice Pennington's record of 28 years. Gwendolyn also shared a special reunion with former host Bob Barker as he made a special surprise appearance on an April Fools Day episode in 2015 (handing him the microphone) as announcer George Gray announced Drew Carey's name and Bob appears as the studio audience erupted with thunderous cheering and applauding and proceeded to host that day's first pricing game (Lucky $even) and afterwards, Drew appears and hosts to remainder of the episode (this would be Bob's very last appearance on Price).

Two years prior, Gwendolyn and Rachel were also the models present for Bob Barker's then-90th Birthday Bash Celebration and "Pet Adoption Week" (airdate: December 12, 2013) and in 2014, she appeared as a guest judge in the third episode of the short-lived, male-driven online reality competition spinoff series The Price is Right Male Model Search (in searching for the show's very first male model to appear regularly).

Current Career[]

Since leaving The Price is Right, Gwendolyn has since turned her attention towards other projects and venues as well as devoted more time to her family.

As a wife and mother of five children, she has proven that the sky is the limit as she manages to balance both her work and family life extremely well. Gwendolyn has nothing but high praises for current Price is Right host Drew Carey and says that he was always supportive of her and that he celebrates women and uplifts them. In regarding her decision to leave The Price is Right after 12 seasons, Gwendolyn says that it wasn't an easy choice to make as that she struggled with debating to whether stay with the long-running game show or leave; ultimately deciding to part ways with the series as she not only wanted to focus more of her time to her family but to also getting back to what she truly loved doing which was acting and singing.

She and husband Kenny had also created a production company called SEG, which eventually turned into a full-time job and that she found it difficult to work there and on Price is Right AND being a mother of five children so she had to let something go and that was her modeling job on Price.

But Gwendolyn's homelife then sadly began to crumble, in 2018, she and Kenny announced their separation (and Gwendolyn later filing for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences).

Aside from family, Gwendolyn continued her career as an actress; in 2019, she appeared in a comedy short titled Mommies: An American Parody. From there, she continued to express her acting chops as she landed guest-starring roles on Grown-ish (spinoff of Black-ish) and the ABC daytime drama General Hospital. In 2020, she appeared in the blockbuster hit Wonder Woman 1984 and in 2023, she appeared as Apollonia in Iceman: Book One (she was credited as "Gwendolyn Smith" in both films). She also had a recurring role as Dr. Mikayla Cabrera/Dr. Cabreara on the BET original series All the Queen's Men.

Gwendolyn has also taken the music industry by storm as a singer-songwriter; in 2021, she released a single titled Give My Love. That same year, she also began hosting her own podcast series titled Tea With Gwen, in which she interviews women from diverse backgrounds on career, health, and wellness.

Recently, in 2023, Gwendolyn publicly voiced her support for Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White during her negotiations for a pay raise for her role as letter-turner/later letter-toucher (since December 1982) on the long-running syndicated game show. Gwendolyn stated that Vanna deserved more money for her long-standing contributions to the series and believed it was time for White to ask for a higher salary (as White's income was significantly less than now-retired host Pat Sajak's at the time and shortly thereafter, she managed to secure a two-year contract extension with a substantial pay increase and continues to co-host the series alongside Ryan Seacrest, who was chosen to replace Sajak as host of Wheel coming into the show's 42nd season in 2024. Additionally, Seacrest has also taken over for Sajak as host on the "Celebrity" primetime version on ABC into the show's 6th season in 2025).

Gallery[]

(Gwendolyn on Dog Eat Dog, 2003)

(Gwendolyn on The Price is Right, March 31, 2005 - October 17, 2017)

Links[]

Gwendolyn's Facebook Page
Gwendolyn's Instagram Page