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Meghan Markle’s take on her Deal or No Deal stint prompted a fellow ex-briefcase model on the show to share her own views on the experience. The Duchess of Sussex opened the sixth episode of her Spotify podcast series Archetypes saying she left the quiz show after making 34 appearances as she didn’t “like feeling forced to be all looks and little substance”. The former actress also said that during that show she felt she was being “reduced” to the bimbo trope, as most of the attention was placed on how she and other models were looking rather than what they may have to say.
However, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Claudia Jordan took to her Instagram Stories to state not every single person attending the show as a model felt the same way as the Duchess.
While stressing her lengthy response to Meghan was not an attack against her, Ms Jordan wrote: “For clarity – yes getting a modelling gig on a game show isn’t necessarily about your intellect but for every show the executive producers picked five models with the most outgoing and fun personalities to place mics on who they knew would engage with the contestants.
“And Deal or No Deal never treated us like bimbos. We got so many opportunities because of that show, Fremantle and NBC.
“That’s the kind of opportunity that is what you make it. If you just show up and don’t engage – then you’ll just get your check and not get much out of it – but if you show up and seize your moments then there are no limits to what you can do with the opportunity.”
Ms Jordan went on to say she “actually enjoyed” working on the Deal or No Deal set and detailed the opportunities it opened up for her.
Describing it as a “step on the ladder” of her TV career on TV which helped her not just pay the bills but also make her known, Ms Jordan said Deal or No Deal eventually led her to, among other gigs, co-hosting the 2009 Miss Universe pageant watched by more than half a billion people across the States.
The reality show star added: “This isn’t an attack on Meghan ’cause Lord knows I’ve been defending this woman in the media for years and I still will but I just didn’t want any misunderstanding about the climate and environment on the Deal or No Deal set. And I am especially protective of [Deal or No Deal host] Howie Mandel, who was nothing but kind and respectful to all 26 of us.”
While Meghan worked on the Deal or No Deal set between 2006 and 2007, Ms Jordan was a briefcase model for the entire run of the show, between 2005 and 2009.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle applauds Harry for supporting women rights
During the Archetypes episode titled Breaking down ‘The Bimbo’ with Paris Hilton & Iliza Shlesinger, Meghan discussed with her guests the meaning of the labels bimbo and dumb blonde and how they affected in particular heiress and entrepreneur Ms Hilton.
As she did in previous episodes of her programme, however, the Duchess launched the topic of discussion by starting with a personal anecdote.
Speaking about her Deal or No Deal stint, the royal said she was thankful to have a steady income – as well as health insurance – while she was trying to pursue her acting career after having studied acting at the prestigious Northwestern University.
However, these perks were not enough for her to ignore just how much attention was put on the models’ appearance.
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Describing what went on behind the scenes ahead of the tapings, Meghan recalled: “You have to imagine, just to paint the picture for you, that before the tapings of the show all the girls would line up and there were different stations and you had your lashes put on and your extensions put in and 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.
“And when I look back at that time, I will never forget this one detail, because moments before we’d get on stage there was a woman who ran the show and she would be there backstage and I can still hear her. She couldn’t properly pronounce my last name at the time and I knew who she was talking to because she would go ‘Markel, suck it in! Markel, suck it in!’
“I ended up quitting the show, like 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’d end up leaving with this pit in my stomach knowing that 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.”
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