‘I was reduced to a bimbo... I want Lilibet to aim higher’
MEGHAN Markle has told how she felt “reduced to a bimbo” as a Deal Or No Deal briefcase girl – and wants her daughter Lilibet to “aspire higher”.
The Duchess of Sussex said she quit the US version of the game show because she was “objectified” and only appreciated for “beauty, not brains”.
The 41-year-old recalled her time on the TV programme as she spoke on the latest episode of her Archetypes podcast, called Breaking Down The Bimbo, with guest Paris Hilton.
The Duchess said she was grateful for the work as she tried to break through as an actress and “pay the bills”.
But she disliked “how it made me feel, which was not smart”.
She added: “I didn’t like feeling forced to be all looks.”
In the show, contestants must choose from 26 sealed briefcases containing cash.
Meghan said she shared the stage with 25 other women, and they were given spray tan vouchers.
She recalls a woman, who she says ran the show, telling her to “suck it in”. The Duchess, who appeared in 34 episodes of Deal Or No Deal between 2006 and 2007, said she disliked feeling “forced to be all looks and little substance”.
She said there was a “very cookie cutter idea” of what the briefcase girls should look like and that it was “solely about beauty”.
Meghan went on: “I ended up quitting. I said I was thankful for the job but not for how it made me feel, which was not smart.
“And by the way, I was surrounded by smart women on that stage with me. But that wasn’t the focus of why we were there.
“And I would end up leaving with this pit in my stomach, know
ing that I was so much more than what was being objectified.”
Meghan added: “And there were times when I was on set at Deal Or No Deal and thinking back to my time working as an intern at the US Embassy in Argentina, and being in the motorcade with the Secretary of Treasury at the time and being valued specifically for my brain.”
The Duchess, said: “I want our daughter to aspire to be slightly higher.Yeah, I want my Lili to want to be educated and want to be smart and to pride herself on those things.”
Meghan admitted during the podcast she “judged” Ms Hilton ahead of the interview, telling listeners: “I’m embarrassed to admit it, I had a judgment about Paris. And I don’t like having judgment. It doesn’t feel good.
“But I had to be real about that because when I grew up, she was beautiful, rich and famous. What could possibly be wrong with her life?”
Hilton responded, saying she was also hesitant about an audience with the Duchess, “because I’m just such a shy person, and we haven’t met before”.