LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Deal or No Deal' executive producer, Lucas Green, trashed Meghan Markle's claims that the program relegated the women who handled the briefcases to the role of a "bimbo." The Duchess of Sussex reportedly said she felt "objectified on the stage" when appearing on the long-running NBC game show between 2006 and 2007.
Meghan described how the women were instructed to wear artificial eyelashes and hair extensions. She also claimed that they were given spray-tan vouchers in order to conform to "a very cookie-cutter idea of precisely what we should look like”.
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Meghan Markle trolled for playing victim over 'bimbo' act as 'Deal or No Deal' briefcase girl
‘About beauty and not necessarily about brains’
According to the 41-year-old, the role was "solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains." On the contrary, Green, the chief content officer of entertainment firm Banjay, said ‘Deal or No Deal’ was continuously "modernizing."
"We are constantly evolving the format so that it isn't the same show it was fifteen plus years ago. A lot of work goes into modernizing our formats to ensure they represent our values as a company and wider society. The UK version for example, will continue to use members of the public from all walks of life to open the boxes [instead of models]," Green told Variety.
‘All looks and little substance’
On her 'Archetypes' podcast, Meghan discussed her time on ‘Deal or No Deal’, saying she was glad the opportunity on the game show helped advance her acting career. She did, however, leave the position due to peer pressure to appear a specific way. "I ended up quitting the show. As I previously stated, I was grateful for the job but not for how it made me feel, which was unwise," she told guest Paris Hilton.
"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, knowing that I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage," Meghan added.
Former host of the show, Howie Mandel, backed Meghan's remarks. "I'm not sure why there's such a big deal, except that standing there with 26 women staring at me made me feel like a bimbo," he told Us Weekly.
