Former “Deal or No Deal” host Howie Mandel repeatedly poked fun at Meghan Markle for labeling her role on the game show as a “bimbo.” The Duchess of Sussex said on her podcast recently she was forced to be “all looks and little substance” when she was what she called a “briefcase girl” on the program.
“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,” Mandel told Us Weekly on Thursday. “I was in the center, 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.”
The comedian got in another dig at Markle, saying his role was to just tell the women to open briefcases.
“I get it. I felt like nothing,” he told the gossip site. “And that’s why I’ve moved on and become a judge on ‘America’s Got Talent.’ “I just needed more than to be a ‘Deal or No Deal’ host.”
Markle, who worked as a model on the game show in 2006, said on her podcast: “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: the word ‘bimbo.’”
The comments drew a rebuttal from “The View” co-host Whoopie Goldberg, who said, “When you’re a performer, you take the gig.”
“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,” Mandel said.
The comedian also struck a sympathetic note, saying he didn’t believe the dutchess was complaining. “I think Meghan just said she wanted to do more. It wasn’t fulfilling for her,” he said.
