Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast can be “very negative” and would benefit from “balancing the narrative,” a public relations expert told Newsweek.
On the latest episode of her Spotify show, the Duchess of Sussex described feeling “objectified” when she was a briefcase girl on the game show Deal or No Deal from 2006 to 2007. The episode, titled “Breaking Down the Bimbo,” included an interview with Paris Hilton.
In response, actress Claudia Jordan, who performed the same role on Deal, posted an Instagram story presenting an alternative perspective, although she characterized herself as someone who generally defends Markle against public vitriol.
The saga left Roz Sheldon, managing partner of U.K.-based PR firm Igniyte, feeling that Markle could have included another viewpoint on the podcast, she said.
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Sheldon told Newsweek: “The podcast is very negative. If they’d had Claudia Jordan there as well, it would have been quite interesting. It’s about balancing the narrative.”
Meghan on the Bimbo Trope and Deal or No Deal
Markle told Archetypes that she was told to “suck it in” by the woman running the show and that the briefcase girls were given spray tan vouchers.
She said, “I ended up quitting the show. Like I said, I was thankful for the job but not for how it made me feel, which was not smart.
She continued: “And by the way, 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, 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,” she said.
Later in the episode, she spoke more generally about the bimbo stereotype outside her experience on the game show. “When I hear the word bimbo, I have a very negative connotation to it.
“I don’t see that as an aspirational thing for a woman. I want our daughters to aspire to be…I want my Lily to want to be educated and want to be smart and to pride herself on those things,” she said.
What Jordan Said About Markle, Deal or No Deal
In her Instagram Stories post, Jordan wrote: “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.
“And Deal or No Deal never treated us like bimbos. We got so many opportunities because of that show,” Jordan said.
The former Real Housewives of Atlanta star continued: “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.”
Jordan was careful to point out she is not generally against Markle, who suggested in 2020 that she had been the most trolled person in the world in 2019.
She wrote: “Lord knows I’ve been defending this woman in the media for years. And I still will, but I just didn’t want any misunderstanding about the climate and environment on the Deal or No Deal set.”
How Media Backlash Can Affect Markle’s Podcast
Sheldon said that she believed Markle had good intentions with her podcast but that Archetypes lacked a balancing voice to present the other side of the story.
In the case of the podcast’s latest episode, she said, many women would agree with Jordan.
Sheldon said: “I think actually a lot of women would think it was smart. They saw an opportunity and made the most of it. So there is another view which Claudia Jordan is obviously expressing.
“There’s two sides to the story, so you’re always going to get that alternative or backlash. Looking at the podcast topics, they tend to push the negative themes to some extent.
“From a reputation point of view, we’d probably say potentially balancing it out a little bit, maybe bringing in some of the positives a little bit. It’s backed by [a] charity, so the intentions are good,” Sheldon said.
Whether Markle takes Sheldon’s advice or not, it’s likely she will continue to face criticism from segments of the media.
Mark Borkowski, a PR consultant and author of Improperganda, told Newsweek: “The history of mainstream media when it comes to female members of the royal family—and it started with Princess Margaret and it moved through the gears to Diana, to Fergie and even Kate Middleton at the time when she was courting and now through to Meghan—is pretty misogynistic.”
He continued: “They’ve always recognized that glamorous women at the center of the royal family are box office. Diana proved that, and so did Fergie to a certain extent.
“For the MailOnline, it is a clickbait mechanism. It’s a global site that needs eyeballs and stories that capture their market from India to Brazil through to North America.
“For anybody who is in the spotlight, there’s an old Hollywood expression: ‘If God wants to curse you, he makes you famous,'” Borkowski said.
