Meghan Markle has just opened up about her stint as a Deal or No Deal briefcase girl in the new episode of her Archetypes podcast, starring Paris Hilton.
Meghan famously appeared in 34 episodes of the NBC TV show, between 2006 and 2007, and spoke to guest star Paris Hilton in the latest podcast called 'Breaking Down the Bimbo' about feeling “objectified” in a role that was for “beauty not brains.”
In the Spotify podcast, released today, Meghan said she was grateful for the job which meant she could pay her bills but disliked “how it made me feel, which was not smart” and hopes her daughter Lilibet aspires to greater things.
“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’s appearance on the show ended 16 years ago after she left midway through the season. She told Hilton: “I ended up quitting the show. I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage. I didn't like feeling forced to be all looks. And little substance. And that's how it felt for me at the time being reduced to this specific archetype the word bimbo.”
The duchess is once again getting super honest on her Archetypes podcast.
The Duchess of Sussex spoke about how she and her co-stars would line-up for various beauty treatments: “There were different stations for having your lashes, put on, or your extensions, put in, or the padding in your bra. We were even given spray-tan vouchers each week because there was a very cookie-cutter idea, of precisely what we should look like. It was solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains.”
She added: “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 U.S. Embassy in Argentina, Buenos Aires, and being in the motorcade with the secretary of treasury at the time and being valued specifically for my brain. Here, I was being valued for something quite the opposite.”
She said: “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. Like I said, I was thankful for the job but not for how it made me feel which was not smart.”
Meghan also revealed how nervous she was about recording the podcast with Paris Hilton. Admitting “I’ve been the most nervous about this one.”
She explained: “Because while I'm embarrassed to admit it, I had a judgment about Paris. And I don't like having judgment 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?”
Paris spoke about her harrowing time at a boarding school and becoming the star of one of TV's first reality shows - The Simple Life. She opened up about being assigned the role of the "dumb blonde", while her friend and colleague Richie was given the label of troublemaker.
“Something I really had blocked out for years”.
Paris told Meghan: "I almost got stuck and lost in the character and at some point it's like lines got blurred and I forgot who I was. And it makes me sad because I used to be such a free spirit, not so closed off, and I think with so many things that happened to me during the years I just closed off in a way in my mind and I wish it didn't happen. Going through trauma affects you."
