Before she was the Duchess of Sussex, and even before she was the sharp-witted Rachel Zane on Suits, Meghan Markle was just another struggling actress in Los Angeles trying to pay her rent. Honestly, the image of her standing on a silver riser in a five-inch pair of heels, clutching a metallic briefcase, feels like a lifetime ago. But for about 34 episodes between 2006 and 2007, that was her reality.
Meghan Markle on Deal or No Deal wasn't a career highlight for her, and she’s been pretty vocal about that lately.
It’s easy to look back now and see a global icon. Back then? She was Case Number 24. Sometimes she held Case Number 11. It depended on the day and the lineup. She was one of 26 women tasked with the high-stakes job of… opening a box.
The $800 Paycheck and the "Bimbo" Label
You might think a hit NBC show would pay a fortune. Not exactly. Meghan was pulling in roughly $800 per episode. For a young woman who had just finished an internship at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina, the transition was jarring. One week she’s in a motorcade with the Secretary of the Treasury, and the next, she’s being told to "suck it in" by a producer backstage.
She talked about this on her Archetypes podcast, and boy, did it cause a stir.
Meghan described the environment as being "solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains." She recalled the assembly-line nature of the glam:
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- Weekly vouchers for spray tans.
- Standing in a literal line to have false eyelashes glued on.
- Wearing "padding" in her bra to fit a specific aesthetic.
It wasn't just the clothes or the tan. It was the feeling of being "objectified." She felt she was being reduced to a specific archetype—the "bimbo."
Why She Actually Took the Job
Look, we’ve all had those "bridge" jobs. The ones you take because the car insurance is due or you really need that SAG-AFTRA health insurance. That’s exactly what this was for Meghan. She was a Northwestern University graduate with a degree in Theater and International Relations. She wanted to act, not model luggage.
But the industry is tough.
Before the show, she was driving a beat-up Ford Explorer with a broken door. She literally had to crawl in through the trunk to get into the driver’s seat because she couldn't afford to fix the lock. When Deal or No Deal came along, it offered a steady paycheck and those all-important union benefits.
She wasn't the only one there who went on to bigger things, either. Did you know Chrissy Teigen was also a briefcase model around that same time? They actually reminisced about it recently, laughing about the "gross" ritual of putting used false eyelashes into a Ziploc bag at the end of a long shoot day.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Her Exit
There’s a common misconception that she was fired or that the show didn't want her. Actually, she quit.
She realized she was "so much more" than what was being projected on that stage. She had a pit in her stomach every time she left the studio. It just didn't align with who she was.
Some of her former colleagues, like Claudia Jordan, have pushed back on her comments. Jordan mentioned that the show provided a lot of opportunities and didn't feel like a "bimbo" factory to everyone. It’s a classic case of two people having completely different experiences in the same room. For Meghan, it was a means to an end. For others, it was the dream.
The Howie Mandel Connection
Interestingly, the show’s host, Howie Mandel, has been pretty honest about his own memory of her—or lack thereof.
In several interviews, Mandel admitted he doesn't actually remember Meghan from the set. To be fair, he was dealing with 26 different models every single day for years. But he did defend her "bimbo" comments. He noted that he felt like a bit of a "bimbo" himself, standing there in a suit while everyone stared at him, just waiting for him to say a few catchphrases.
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Why Meghan Markle on Deal or No Deal Still Matters
It’s a masterclass in the "hustle" phase of a career. It shows that even people who end up in palaces started out doing jobs they didn't particularly love.
When you see those old clips of her in the short silk dresses, it’s a reminder of the 2000s-era TV landscape. It was a time of "briefcase beauties" and high-gloss production that didn't leave much room for personality.
Key Takeaways from Meghan’s "Briefcase" Era
If you're looking for the "so what" of this story, here it is:
- The Power of "No": Meghan quitting a steady, high-profile gig because it didn't feel right was an early sign of the boundary-setting she’d become known for later in life.
- Financial Reality: Even "glamorous" TV jobs often pay less than you’d think once you factor in the L.A. cost of living.
- The Importance of the "Why": She used the show to get health insurance and stay in the game until Suits finally called five years later.
If you want to see the footage for yourself, it’s all over YouTube. Look for the episodes from Season 2. You’ll see a young woman who is clearly "playing the part," but knowing what we know now, you can almost see her counting down the minutes until she could go back to real acting auditions.
To really understand her journey, you have to look at the gap between Case 24 and the U.N. podium. It's a huge jump. It reminds us that your current "bridge job" doesn't define your ceiling.
Check out the Archetypes podcast episode titled "Breaking Down the Bimbo" if you want to hear her tell it in her own words. It’s eye-opening, whether you’re a fan of the royals or just someone interested in the mechanics of Hollywood’s early-aughts culture.