The Duchess of Sussex revealed openly that she was “forced to be all looks and little substance” during her time on the US version of Deal or No Deal.
The Suits actress reminisced about her time on the show as the “briefcase girl” in an interview with fashion influencer Paris Hilton for the most recent installment of her Archetypes podcast.
The mother of two unpacked the “bimbo” trope in the enlightening episode before reflecting on her own experiences on the Deal or No Deal set.
According to Meghan, there was a “very predetermined idea” of how the briefcase girls should appear, and it was “solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains.”
The 41-year-old discussed the toxic beauty standards of the show while describing how she received vouchers for spray tans every week and once received the advice to “suck it in” from the show’s producer.
Meghan continued, “I ultimately left the program. I was grateful for the job, as I’ve already mentioned, but not for how it made me feel, which was foolish.
“By the way, there were a lot of intelligent women around me on that stage. However, that wasn’t the main reason we were there. Knowing that I was so much more than what was being objectified on stage, I would always leave with a pit in my stomach.
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“I didn’t like having to put little thought into my appearance. Being reduced to this particular archetype caused me to feel that way at the time.
The actress reflected on past work environments, saying: “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, in Buenos Aires. At the time, I was in the motorcade with the Secretary of Treasury, and I was valued specifically for my brain.
“I was valued for something entirely different here.”
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While working as a model on the US version of Deal or No Deal in 2006, Meghan held briefcase number 24 years before she met Prince Harry. The aspiring actress accepted the position while she was a Northwestern University student in an effort to pursue her acting goals.
My bills could be paid by the job. It was great; I had a job, I belonged to a union, and I had health insurance.
