Meghan Markle 'not remembered' by co-star Howie Mandel despite special memento

12 March 2024 , 15:44

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Meghan Markle didn't leave an impression on Howie Mandel

Howie Mandel has admitted he doesn't remember Meghan Markle working with him on Deal or No Deal, despite having a picture of her on his desk.

The Duchess of Sussex appeared on Deal or No Deal between 2006 and 2007 and the show helped her to launch her TV career. She went on to get a starring in role in Suits, before leaving the show when she got engaged to Prince Harry.

Howie has said he doesn't stay in touch with Meghan and initially forgot she appeared on Deal or No Deal. "When I heard that she was on Deal or No Deal, I didn't remember her.

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Meghan Markle worked on Deal or No Deal for a year (NBC)

"I have a picture of her in my office … she's one of many of the girls standing behind me," the TV host said during an appearance on the Good Guys podcast. However, Howie insisted he didn't hold anything against Meghan.

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He admitted he "didn't remember a lot of [the models]". He added: "Chrissy Teigen was also a Deal or no Deal model," Howie said, implying he didn't remember working with Chrissy either.

Meghan has been vocal about her time working on Deal or No Deal and slammed the show for reducing her to the role of a "bimbo". During an episode of her podcast Archetypes, Meghan explained how the women were told to wear false eyelashes and hair extensions.

Howie Mandel didn't recognise the Duchess of Sussex (Good Guys Podcast)

She said they were also given spray-tan vouchers to fit "a very cookie-cutter idea of precisely what we should look like." Meghan claimed: "It was solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains."

Meghan revealed how one of the women who worked on the show would tell her to "suck it in" every time she went on stage and that she felt it was "all looks and little substance". Meghan 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, knowing that I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage."

Lucas Green, chief content officer at entertainment company Banjay, disagreed with Meghan's claims and said Deal or No Deal is always "modernising". "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 modernising 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]," he told Variety.

Scarlett O'Toole