Another Deal or No Deal ‘briefcase girl’ slams Meghan Markle’s ‘bimbo’ comments

Another one of Meghan Markle’s fellow former Deal or No Deal ‘briefcase girls’ has spoken out to condemn the Duchess of Sussex’s claims that she was ‘objectified’ and ‘reduced to a bimbo’ while starring on the NBC game show. 

Patricia Kara, 50, starred in the popular series for its entire 2005 to 2009 on-air run – appearing alongside Meghan, 41, in all 34 of the episodes that the Duchess of Sussex featured in between 2006 and 2007. 

Now, she has spoken out to set the record straight in light of Meghan’s recent comments, biting back at the Duchess’ claims that the models on the show had to undergo makeovers at different ‘stations’ backstage, where she says they would have false lashes applied and even get their bras padded. 

During her podcast – which focused on the bimbo archetype – Meghan had claimed: ‘There were different stations for having your lashes put on, or your extensions put in, or the padding in your bra.’ 

However, according to Patricia, no such ‘station’ ever existed. 

‘There was no bra station! There was no bra station,’ Patricia insisted during Thursday night’s Inside Edition. 

When asked whether Meghan’s comments about being ‘objectified’ and made to feel like a ‘bimbo’ were ‘familiar’, the former Deal or No Deal model said that she never had that kind of negative experience, noting that she walked away from the game show with nothing but positive memories – so much so that she even returned to the show as a briefcase girl for its reboot in 2018. 

‘Not at all. It’s unfortunate that she felt that way because in my experience I never ever felt that way,’ she continued. 

Another of Meghan Markle's fellow Deal or No Deal 'briefcase girls' has hit back at the Duchess' claims that she was 'reduced to a bimbo' and 'objectified' while appearing on the NBC game show

Another of Meghan Markle’s fellow Deal or No Deal ‘briefcase girls’ has hit back at the Duchess’ claims that she was ‘reduced to a bimbo’ and ‘objectified’ while appearing on the NBC game show

Patricia Kara (seen with briefcase nine), 50, starred in the popular series for its entire 2005 to 2009 on-air run - appearing alongside Meghan (seen with briefcase 24), 41, in all 34 of the episodes that the Duchess of Sussex featured in

Patricia Kara (seen with briefcase nine), 50, starred in the popular series for its entire 2005 to 2009 on-air run – appearing alongside Meghan (seen with briefcase 24), 41, in all 34 of the episodes that the Duchess of Sussex featured in

In the latest episode of her podcast, Archetypes, Meghan claimed that the briefcase girls were made to visit special makeover 'stations' backstage where they would have their bras padded - but Patricia furiously denied that a 'bra station' ever existed

In the latest episode of her podcast, Archetypes, Meghan claimed that the briefcase girls were made to visit special makeover 'stations' backstage where they would have their bras padded - but Patricia furiously denied that a 'bra station' ever existed

In the latest episode of her podcast, Archetypes, Meghan claimed that the briefcase girls were made to visit special makeover ‘stations’ backstage where they would have their bras padded – but Patricia furiously denied that a ‘bra station’ ever existed

Speaking to Inside Edition today, Patricia said of Meghan's comments: 'It's unfortunate that she felt that way because in my experience I never ever felt that way'

Speaking to Inside Edition today, Patricia said of Meghan’s comments: ‘It’s unfortunate that she felt that way because in my experience I never ever felt that way’

Mother-of-two Meghan sparked a bitter backlash with her comments about Deal or No Deal, which she made on this week’s episode of her Spotify podcast Archetypes. 

Despite admitting that she was grateful for the money she earned on the show while she was trying to make it as an actress – referring to her role on Deal or No Deal as ‘a short stint’ to pay the bills – she said she disliked ‘how it made her feel, which was not smart.’

Meghan - seen right with Patricia directly behind her - said on her podcast that she quit Deal or No Deal because she 'didn't like feeling forced to be all looks and little substance'

Meghan – seen right with Patricia directly behind her – said on her podcast that she quit Deal or No Deal because she ‘didn’t like feeling forced to be all looks and little substance’

‘I ended up quitting the show,’ Meghan continued on the episode – which featured an interview with Paris Hilton. ‘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. That’s how it felt for me at the time, being reduced to this specific archetype, the word bimbo.’

However, in the wake of the episode’s release, multiple high-profile faces have come out to slam her comments, including TV hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Megyn Kelly. 

On Wednesday’s The View, Whoopi, 66 – who is famed for her liberal views – accused the Duchess of ‘making other women feel bad’ with her comments. saying: ‘My point is, if you see it and that’s how you feel, just maybe you don’t want to make the other women feel bad because maybe they’re not – you know, maybe they’re trying to make a living too.’

Meanwhile former Fox News host Megyn, 51, also condemned Meghan’s remarks, claiming that the former Suits star ‘knew exactly what she was getting herself into’ when she signed on to the show. 

‘The laughable notion that she did not know what she was getting herself into when she took a job in which one’s only mission is to look tan, wear false eyelashes and wear a skimpy shiny dress while opening a suitcase,’ she said on her SiriusXM podcast. 

‘She knew exactly what she was getting herself into on that job and it was no surprise to her that they wanted her to look as good as possible while doing it.

‘What she’s trying to con us on now is whether she enjoyed it. She loved every minute of it. She wanted to be objectified. She wanted the adulation just like she still wants it to this day.’

One of the first people to publicly take aim at Meghan’s comments was another of her fellow former briefcase girls, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Claudia Jordan, who took to Instagram Stories on Tuesday evening to furiously blast Meghan’s statements, insisting that the show never treated its models like ‘bimbos’ – and noting that producers actually chose briefcase girls based on their ‘outgoing personalities’. 

Patricia's comments on Meghan's controversial 'bimbo' claims come two days after another of the Duchess' former Deal or No Deal co-stars - Claudia Jordan - also spoke out to slam her statements

Patricia's comments on Meghan's controversial 'bimbo' claims come two days after another of the Duchess' former Deal or No Deal co-stars - Claudia Jordan - also spoke out to slam her statements

Patricia’s comments on Meghan’s controversial ‘bimbo’ claims come two days after another of the Duchess’ former Deal or No Deal co-stars – Claudia Jordan – also spoke out to slam her statements 

Real Housewives of Atlanta star Claudia, 49 - who appeared alongside Meghan, 41, on the show in the mid-2000s - posted a furious rant about the Duchess on her Instagram Stories on Tuesday

Real Housewives of Atlanta star Claudia, 49 – who appeared alongside Meghan, 41, on the show in the mid-2000s – posted a furious rant about the Duchess on her Instagram Stories on Tuesday

Meghan, who appeared on the second season of the NBC series for 34 episodes between 2006 and 2007, said on her podcast that felt she was being 'objectified' on the show

Meghan, who appeared on the second season of the NBC series for 34 episodes between 2006 and 2007, said on her podcast that felt she was being ‘objectified’ on the show

‘For clarity – yes getting a modeling gig on a game show isn’t necessarily about your intellect, but 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,’ she wrote in a post on her Instagram. 

‘And Deal or No Deal never treated us like bimbos. We got so many opportunities because of that show.’ 

The reality star added that it’s the ‘kind of opportunity’ that ‘is what you make it’. She added: ‘If you just show up and don’t engage – then you’ll just get your check and not get much out of it.

Meghan made the comments on her Spotify podcast. She and Prince Harry signed a three-year podcast deal with the streaming giant for an estimated $18 million

Meghan made the comments on her Spotify podcast. She and Prince Harry signed a three-year podcast deal with the streaming giant for an estimated $18 million

‘But if you show up and seize your moments, there’s no limits to what you can do with the opportunity.’

Claudia explained that she ‘enjoyed’ working on Deal or No Deal, and claimed it helped launch a major career for her.

‘It was a step on the ladder I’ve been ascending on for 25 years that paid all my bills, put me in front of 13 million people a night, and led to me getting on Celebrity Apprentice, Celebrity Apprentice All Stars, a breast cancer awareness campaign, guest hosting Extra, getting into People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful issue, and so much more,’ she continued. 

‘It also led to me co-hosting the 2009 Miss Universe pageant with @BillyBush in front of half a billion people. Not to shabby for a ‘bimbo.”

While the 49-year-old wanted her followers to know that she was not ‘attacking’ Meghan, she said it was important for her to defend the show, and all of the people who worked so hard to make it a success. 

‘Lord knows I’ve been defending this woman in the media for years,’ she explained. ‘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’m especially protective of [host] Howie Mandel, who was nothing but kind and respectful to all 26 of us.’

However, Claudia insisted that producers worked to highlight the models with the 'most outgoing and fun personalities', adding that she never felt like a 'bimbo' while on the show

However, Claudia insisted that producers worked to highlight the models with the ‘most outgoing and fun personalities’, adding that she never felt like a ‘bimbo’ while on the show

Although Claudia insisted that she wasn't trying to 'attack' Meghan, the Real Housewives star noted that Deal or No Deal gave people opportunities if they 'seized their moments'

Although Claudia insisted that she wasn't trying to 'attack' Meghan, the Real Housewives star noted that Deal or No Deal gave people opportunities if they 'seized their moments'

Although Claudia insisted that she wasn’t trying to ‘attack’ Meghan, the Real Housewives star noted that Deal or No Deal gave people opportunities if they ‘seized their moments’

Meghan (seen circled on the show in the back) had very differing opinions about the way in which briefcase girls were treated to her former co-star Claudia (seen circled in the front)

Meghan (seen circled on the show in the back) had very differing opinions about the way in which briefcase girls were treated to her former co-star Claudia (seen circled in the front)

In the newest episode of Meghan’s podcast, which was released on Tuesday and featured Paris Hilton as a guest star, the royal said she was grateful for the money she earned on Deal or No Deal as she tried to succeed as an actress – calling it ‘a short stint’ to pay the bills – but said she disliked ‘how it made her feel, which was not smart.’

‘There were times when I was on set at Deal or No Deal and thinking back to my time working as an intern at the US Embassy in Argentina, Buenos Aires, and being in the motorcade with the secretary of treasury at the time and being valued specifically for my brain,’ she explained.

‘Here, I was being valued for something quite the opposite. I ended up quitting the show. 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. That’s how it felt for me at the time, being reduced to this specific archetype, the word bimbo.’ 

She added that she wanted her one-year-old daughter, Lilibet, to valued first for her mind, rather than her ‘beauty,’ unlike she was on the show.

‘I want our daughter to aspire to be slightly higher,’ she stated. ‘Yeah, I want my Lili to want to be educated and want to be smart and to pride herself on those things.’

The actress claimed that she and the other women on the show were forced to ‘line up’ for various beauty treatments including ‘padding in their bras,’ attaching fake eyelashes, and ‘putting in’ hair extensions. 

‘We were even given spray-tan vouchers each week because there was a very cookie cutter idea, of precisely what we should look like,’ she added. ‘It was solely about our beauty.’

The wife of Prince Harry also said that a woman ‘in charge’ of the show would tell her to ‘suck it in’ before filming began, presumably an order to hold in her stomach on camera.

But reviewers and critics were quick to take aim at Meghan’s claims. Royal biographer Angela Levin told MailOnline that ‘very attractive’ Meghan ‘didn’t have to take the job’, and ‘could have said no’, adding that the fact she chose to do it ‘meant that she wanted it’. 

Rikki Schlott in the New York Post said that ‘being praised for your looks’ was ‘literally the job description’ on the show, and added that no briefcase girl ‘showed up expecting to be celebrated for her brains’.

Hilary Rose in The Times penned a sarcastic review noting how listeners had learnt that ‘envy can be a dangerous thing’, adding this was perhaps especially true ‘when you fancy living in a castle but get given a poxy cottage called Frogmore instead’ – a reference to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s living arrangements when they were based in the UK.

US-based commentator Kat Timpf said Meghan spoke as if she was ‘describing some really serious trauma that she went through’, even though she just ‘opened a briefcase’. She added that briefcase girls are ‘paid to look attractive’ and would have known that when they signed up.

Richard Madeley on Good Morning Britain asked: ‘Is there anything Meghan Markle won’t moan about’, before highlighting how the Duchess of Sussex’s Deal or No Deal co-star Claudia Jordan had refuted her claims.

And Spectator World’s Cockburn columnist said ‘we are used to Meghan’s attempts to rewrite history’, before asking if it was a ‘running theme’ for the royal to ‘walk out on a job because not every aspect of it suits her.’

Whoopi Goldberg accuses Meghan Markle of making ‘other women feel bad’ when they’re ‘just trying to make a living’ after her ‘bimbo’ comments on being a Deal or No Deal ‘briefcase girl’

BY SOPHIE MANN AND MATTHEW LODGE FOR MAILONLINE 

  • The famously-liberal View host has criticized Meghan Markle’s comments about Deal or No Deal
  • It comes after the Duchess of Sussex claimed she felt like a ‘bimbo’ while appearing as a ‘briefcase girl’
  • Whoopi Goldberg slammed Meghan, and said her former co-stars were ‘just trying to make a living’
  • She added that the duchess’s comments could make the women ‘feel bad’
  • Whoopi is the latest star to take aim at Meghan, who hopes to build a glittering career after quitting royal life

Whoopi Goldberg has blasted Meghan Markle for ‘making other women feel bad’ after the royal claimed her time as a ‘briefcase girl’ on Deal or No Deal made her feel like a bimbo.

Goldberg – famed for her liberal views – delivered the hammer-blow on Wednesday’s episode of The View, saying: ‘My point is, if you see it and that’s how you feel, just maybe you don’t want to make the other women feel bad because maybe they’re not — you know, maybe they’re trying to make a living too.’

She continued: ‘The objectification might be coming from you and how you felt about how these women were being portrayed,’ she said.

‘That’s what you have to change because we’re performers. When you’re a performer, you take the gig… sometimes, you’re in a bozo suit, sometimes you got a big nose, and this is just the way it is.’

Whoopi also implied the Duchess of Sussex was taking the matter altogether too seriously, telling The View panel: ‘I just want to say that on that show, you basically had a suitcase.

‘And (the contestants) want to know, is this the deal you want or is this not the deal you want? I don’t know that the people who were sitting there are thinking bout you like that. They’re thinking, I want the money.’

Whoopi’s views triggered global surprise, given she tends to have sympathy for the same liberal and right-on causes as Meghan does.

Recently, she instructed the Royal Family to apologize for its colonial past including ‘running roughshod over India,’ making her rebuttal to Markle’s comments especially stark.

Speaking on the latest episode of her Archetypes podcast, Meghan told guest Paris Hilton: ‘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.

‘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 episode was titled ‘Bimbo,’ and was intended to look at unfair labels given to women.

Whoopi Goldberg slammed Meghan Markle over the royal's latest podcast on Saturday, suggesting Meghan's dismissive comments about her time as a briefcase girl on Deal or No Deal had shamed the other women appearing on the show

Whoopi Goldberg slammed Meghan Markle over the royal’s latest podcast on Saturday, suggesting Meghan’s dismissive comments about her time as a briefcase girl on Deal or No Deal had shamed the other women appearing on the show 

The panel on The View said Meghan was well within her rights to quit her role on Deal or No Deal if it made her feel bad

The panel on The View said Meghan was well within her rights to quit her role on Deal or No Deal if it made her feel bad

Meghan was referring to her stint on Deal or No Deal between 2006 and 2007. The gameshow, hosted by Howie Mandel, sees contestants open a series of briefcases containing a potential cash prize. Meghan was one of the identically-dressed women tasked with opening those briefcases.

Her remarks were also condemned by talk show host Megyn Kelly, who claims the duchess ‘knew exactly what she was getting herself into’ on Deal or No Deal, and that the part satisfied Meghan’s alleged craving for attention.

Speaking on her SiriusXM show Wednesday, Kelly said: ‘The laughable notion that she did not know what she was getting herself into when she took a job in which one’s only mission is to look tan, wear false eyelashes and wear a skimpy shiny dress while opening a suitcase,.

‘She knew exactly what she was getting herself into on that job and it was no surprise to her that they wanted her to look as good as possible while doing it.

‘What she’s trying to con us on now is whether she enjoyed it. She loved every minute of it. She wanted to be objectified.

‘She wanted the adulation just like she still wants it to this day.’

The Archetypes episode released on Tuesday was followed by the publication of a bombshell interview with Variety which had been re-recorded after the Queen’s death to allow her to pay tribute to Her Majesty.

The mother-of-two and former actress said that while she was ‘grateful’ the job helped pay the bills, she felt she was only valued for her ‘beauty’, not her ‘brains’.

Markle’s comments also prompted one of her former Deal or No Deal co-stars to say the program had provided ‘so many opportunities’ for them and that models who opened briefcases on the show were not chosen just because of their looks.

Kelly is notably no fan of Markle’s and added further added to the discourse Wednesday on an episode of Paul Murray Live that she has grown weary of what she believes is Markle’s ‘deceptive nature’ and ‘abject dishonesty.’

‘She does this podcast with Paris Hilton on how “oh we’ve been labelled bimbos, it’s so wrong”, meanwhile Paris Hilton made millions of dollars off of that label, leaned into robustly, which she discusses in the podcast.

‘But Meghan Markle won’t own it. Meghan Markle wants to complaint about being objectified when she was suitcase girl number 24.

‘It’s ridiculous,’ she said.

Goldberg, in unlikely agreement with Kelly, concurred that the Duchess of Sussex may have been reacting to the way she felt about being on the show, and that part of being a performer is doing your job in costumes with which you’re not always comfortable.

Her intervention came on the same day it was revealed Meghan re-recorded her tell-all interview with Variety after the Queen died so she could make a tribute.

The Duchess of Sussex’s interview and photoshoot with the US publication had been completed eight days before Her Majesty died on September 8. But it was redone after she returned from the Queen’s funeral.

Variety writer Matt Donnelly revealed: ‘She worries that any comments about the Queen or her in-laws will be “a distraction” from continued mourning, but presses on to celebrate the icon’.

In the interview she went on to say she was ‘done’ with acting but would not stop her children pursuing it as a career.

She also appeared to distance herself from the Netflix docu-series about her and Prince Harry that is set to be released and was candid about her home life – including her and her husband’s wind-down routine and her son’s love for British children’s television show Octonauts.

But she does not talk about her time on Deal or No Deal in the Variety interview.

Meghan claims she was ‘grateful’ to join Deal or No Deal to get money, pay the bills, secure health insurance and join a union while starting out as an actress – but quit after ‘short stint’ of 34 EPISODES

Meghan Markle said she was ‘thankful’ to work on Deal or No Deal as a suitcase girl – but was made to feel ‘not smart’.

The Duchess of Sussex said she ‘was flipping through the channels on TV – this by the way is a rarity when you have two children under the age of four – but I saw an episode of a game show called Deal or No Deal. This brought back a lot of memories’.

She went on: ‘I had studied acting in college at Northwestern University and like a lot of the other women standing on stage with me acting was what I was pursuing. 

‘While Deal or No Deal wasn’t about acting, I was really grateful as an auditioning actress to have a job that could pay my bills. I had income, I was part of the Union, I had health insurance, it was great.’

But she said she disliked feeling ‘forced to be all looks and little substance’ during her stint.

She said: ‘There were times when I was on set at Deal or No Deal and thinking back to my time working as an intern at the US Embassy in Argentina, Buenos Aires, and being in the motorcade with the secretary of treasury at the time and being valued specifically for my brain.  

‘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. Like I said, I was thankful for the job but not for how it made me feel, which was not smart.’ 

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