- Meghan Markle spoke about her time on "Deal or No Deal" in a new "Archetypes" podcast episode.
- Markle, 41, recalled being objectified and told to suck in her stomach before filming.
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, shared candid details about her time on the game show "Deal or No Deal" during the latest episode of her "Archetypes" podcast on Spotify.
In the episode, titled "Breaking down 'The Bimbo' with Paris Hilton," Markle recalled her "short stint" as a "briefcase girl" in 2006. "Deal or No Deal" premiered on NBC and aired from 2005 to 2019. Markle appeared during the series' second season from 2006 to 2007.
Markle, 41, said show staffers focused more on women's physical appearance than their intellect.
"All the girls, we would line up, and there were different stations for having your lashes put on, or your extensions put in, or the padding in your bra," she said, referring to her time on set. "We were 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," Markle continued.
Markle then recalled an interaction with one of the staffers about her body.
"When I look back at that time, I'll never forget this one detail — because moments before we'd get on stage, there was a woman who ran the show, and she'd be there backstage, and I can still hear her," Markle said. "She couldn't properly pronounce my last name at the time and I knew who she was talking to because she'd go, 'Markle, suck it in! Markle, suck it in!'"
Markle shared that she later quit, and while she was thankful for the opportunity, she didn't like being objectified.
"By the way, I was surrounded by smart women on the 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," Markle continued. "Knowing that I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage."
Markle added that she "didn't like feeling forced to be all looks with little substance."
"And that's how it felt for me at the time, being reduced to this specific archetype," Markle said before a definition of the word "bimbo" played on the episode.
"It was glorified," Markle later said, referring to the negative connotation that women should be "dumb and bubbly." She later mentioned her daughter, Lilibet, while discussing her feelings about the word "bimbo."
"When I hear the word bimbo, I have a very negative connotation," Markle said. "I don't see that as an aspirational thing for women. I want my Lili to want to be educated and want to be smart and to pride herself on those things."
Representatives for Markle did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
In last week's episode, Markle spoke about her mental health struggles and said Prince Harry helped her find professional help at her "worst point." She's also touched on negative racial stereotypes, life as a single woman, and the connotation of the word "diva" on her podcast.