Bob Barker Wanted to Marry Girlfriend Nancy and Proposed Several Times, Publicist Says (Exclusive)

etonline.com:

Bob Barker wanted to marry Nancy Burnet. In a statement to ET, Roger Neal, the late host's publicist, reveals that his client proposed to his longtime love more than once.«Bob actually asked Nancy to marry him several times, she said no,» Neal tells ET. «She was fine with the way things were.

She loved being his companion, but he did want to marry her.»Barker was married to Dorothy Jo Gideon from 1945 until her death in 1981.«I think, if you're lucky, you find your soulmate and the love of your life,» Neal tells ET in an interview. «I think once you find that person some people don't want to replace that.

I just always felt with him that he had such love and respect for her.»Barker went on to meet Burnet at an animal rights event, and the pair was together until his Aug.

26 death at age 99. «They never lived together. They had separate residences,» Neal says. «I think if he ever contemplated marriage again it would’ve been with Nancy for sure.»Neal adds that Barker and Burnet had «great admiration and respect for each other» during their 40-year relationship.«I know he loved her,» he says. «I know that she cared deeply for him.» Over the years, it was Burnet who took «amazing care» of Barker, who died in his sleep at his Los Angeles home.«I can't stress enough the great care that Nancy took of him.