[ad_1]
Before landing the role of Rachel Zane in the hit series Suits, Meghan Markle appeared in over 34 episodes of the US version of Deal or No Deal amongst 25 other women presenting briefcases containing the show’s cash prizes. The Duchess of Sussex sparked a debate when she claimed she felt demeaned during her stint on the game show, and the series’ former host Howie Mandel has since offered his view.
Howie insisted Meghan wasn’t “maligning” the series or “complaining” about her Deal or No Deal role with her recent comments.
The America’s Got Talent judge presented the series from 2005-2019, and admitted he didn’t understand the backlash to Meghan’s experience.
“I’ve never really heard anybody complain, and I don’t think Meghan is complaining,” he said.
“I think Meghan just said she wanted to do more. It wasn’t fulfilling for her.”
READ MORE: Strictly’s Tony Adams could make final after new evidence exposed
“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.
“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.”
Her former co-star sympathised with Meghan’s remarks, as Howie left the role after he started to feel similarly objectified.
“I get it because — I’ve never said this before — but they had this pyramid of 26 beautiful, intelligent women standing there just staring at me like I was a piece of meat,” he said.
“I was in the centre, just dressed up in a suit, and I felt like, ‘I am more than this.’ And they would just look at me and I had to do nothing.
“I don’t know why there is a big hoopla, except I have to say that me standing there with 26 women staring at me made me feel like a bimbo.”
He claimed feeling like “nothing” pushed him to seek more roles outside of Deal or No Deal, and landed his America’s Got Talent gig in 2010.
[ad_2]
