Howie Mandel ‘didn’t remember’ Meghan Markle from ‘Deal or No Deal’ days — but he does keep this memento
Howie Mandel has a photo of former “Deal or No Deal” model Meghan Markle on his desk — even though he doesn’t remember her brief stint on the game show.
When asked whether he stayed in touch with the former actress, who wed Prince Harry in 2018, the host simply responded, “no.”
“When I heard that she was on ‘Deal or No Deal,’ I didn’t remember her,” he admitted on Monday’s episode of the “Good Guys” podcast.
“I have a picture of her in my office … she’s one of many of the girls standing behind me,” he went on.
However, Mandel emphasized that it wasn’t personal, as he “didn’t remember a lot of [the models].”
“Chrissy Teigen was also a ‘Deal or no Deal’ model,” he added, implying he had no recollection of working with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girl, either.
Mandel first spoke out about Markle during an interview with E! ahead of her nuptials to the son of King Charles lll.
“To be honest, I don’t even remember her. I don’t,” Mandel said of the Duchess of Sussex, who appeared in 34 episodes from 2006 to 2007.
“I’d like to say I do and if she’s watching, and she’s not right?” he joked.
The “America’s Got Talent” judge then addressed the camera, saying, “I don’t remember you. I’ve seen a lot of pictures and I don’t.”
Markle, 42, who ditched the gig and went on to star in “Suits,” later revealed she quit her job as a briefcase girl because she felt she was being “reduced to a bimbo.”
“I ended up quitting the show. I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage,” she said in a 2022 episode of her podcast, “Archetypes.”
“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.’”
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The mother of two also recalled that her co-stars would “line up” to receive beauty treatments like false lashes, hair extensions, padding for their bras and spray tan vouchers because producers had a “cookie-cutter idea” of how they should look.
“I was grateful for the job, but not about how it made me feel, which was not smart. By the way, I was surrounded by smart women … but that wasn’t the focus,” she said.
“It was solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains.”
Markle, who shares son Archie, 4, and daughter Lilibet, 2, with Harry, 39, said she hopes their daughter will “aspire to be slightly higher.”
