Deal or No Deal stylist responds to Meghan Markle’s claim the show made her feel like a ‘bimbo’

A Hollywood stylist who worked on ‘Deal or No Deal’ added to the criticism of Meghan Markle, who recently said she felt ‘objectified’ on the show and was ‘reduced to a bimbo.’

Dina Cerchione, who has worked for shows across several networks including CBS, NBC, ABC, Netflix and HBO, said ‘it’s been a rough week watching a show I love so much be criticized.’

‘It was one of the most wonderful, challenging, high-profile gigs of my career and I loved every minute of it,’ she wrote on Instagram.

‘Everyone on the show from my wardrobe team to the producers, the crew, hair and makeup, Howie and especially the models worked SO very hard to make the shows the best they could for the contestants and the fans who adored it.

‘I have thought a lot about this, I wouldn’t change a thing.

‘We all knew how lucky we were and how special our TV family was. There was a mission at work to do the best we could, take care of our full team and treat everyone with the respect they earned and deserved.’ 

Cerchione also said the show was ‘a launch pad for so many of the women,’ noting ‘hosting and being on other television shows,’ and even ‘being on Oprah’ — a possible reference to Meghan’s bombshell interview.

The stylist’s comments follow a recent wave of criticism since Markle made her comments on her podcast, ‘Archetypes,’ when she told Paris Hilton that she left the show because she felt valued for ‘beauty not brains.’

Hollywood stylist Dina Cerchione (pictured), who worked on ‘Deal or No Deal,’ responded to comments by Meghan Markle, who said she felt ‘objectified’ by the show

Cerchione on Markle’s remarks: ‘There was a mission at work to do the best we could, take care of our full team and treat everyone with the respect they earned and deserved’

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Meghan appeared on season two of NBC’s ‘Deal or No Deal’ 16 years ago. She first stood beside briefcase number 11 for two episodes, then moved to number 24. She left the show midway through the season.

‘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.

‘And that’s how it felt for me at the time being reduced to this specific archetype, the word bimbo.’

‘Also, let’s not overlook, this was all pre-social media and cameras on cellphones! I can’t imagine what they could have accomplished if they had those tools at their fingertips,’ she wrote.

‘The women gained such uh-mazing opportunities! Not only to change the lives of the contestants who came on the show for a chance at $1,000,000 but also the opportunities they gained from being seen in millions of peoples’ homes each week.’

Pictured: Cerchione’s Instagram post where she praised the popular game show that Meghan said made her feel objectified 

Cerchione said the show was ‘a launch pad for so many of the women, many who I am in touch with to this day’

Meghan added that a woman ‘in charge’ of the show would tell her to ‘suck it in’ before filming began, presumably an order to suck in her stomach on camera

The California-based royal revealed that she and the other women on the show were forced to ‘line up’ for various beauty treatments including ‘padding in your bra,’ to attach fake eyelashes and ‘put 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. It was solely about our beauty.’

Meghan added that a woman ‘in charge’ of the show would tell her to ‘suck it in’ before filming began, presumably an order to suck in her stomach on camera.

Women who appeared on the show at the same time as Meghan, meanwhile, tell a rather different story from the Duchess. They say the atmosphere was fun rather than oppressive or sleazy.

One of the briefcase girls who worked with Meghan was Lisa Gleave, a successful Australian model, TV presenter and actress now living in LA.

Gleave told the Mail of her stint on ‘Deal Or No Deal’ that she felt ‘blessed and lucky to have been on it’, adding: ‘For me it was a joy and a great career move. Most of the girls would say that.’ 

‘I never looked at it as a show that objectified women. The cast and crew treated us very well. It was a professional set. For many of us, it was a steppingstone on our careers, and we went on to greater things,’ Gleave said.

She accused the Duchess of ‘over-reacting about her time there’, adding, ‘if Meghan didn’t want to feel objectified and had bad feelings about her role then she could have chosen not to do the audition and not to do all the shows that she did. And that would have given another girl a chance, someone who would have jumped at the role.’

A former briefcase girl on the show, Lisa Gleave, added: ‘I never looked at it as a show that objectified women’

 ‘For clarity — yes getting a modelling 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,’ Gleave said

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Lisa Gleave’s views have been echoed by another of the briefcase bearers, Claudia Jordan, who went on to become a reality TV star on ‘The Real Housewives Of Atlanta.’

She said: ‘For clarity — yes getting a modelling 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 said.

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

Meghan appeared on season two of NBC’s ‘Deal or No Deal’ 16 years ago. She left the show midway through the season. ‘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’

Alike Boggan was another contemporary of Meghan who said she enjoyed working on Deal Or No Deal and had no problem with what she was asked to do on the show.

‘I was there from the very first episode and I loved every minute of it. It was a great job and a great opportunity,’ she told the Mail.

‘There was an emphasis on us girls looking our best but it’s showbusiness — an aesthetic industry — and it didn’t bother me at all.’

Alike is now the mother of a toddler and a successful businesswoman.

‘I never felt uncomfortable and never felt there was anything undignified about it. I was grateful for the good salary and the good working conditions. I look back on it fondly.’