Actress Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s fiancee, earlier in her career was a briefcase model on the NBC game show Deal or No Deal . In 2006, she appeared on the NBC program that was hosted by comedian Howie Mandel, now an America’s Got Talent judge, for 34 episodes.
Best known for her role as Rachel Zane for seven seasons on the USA Network legal drama Suits , Markle, 36, and the British prince announced their engagement on November 27, prompting a wave of international headlines and publicity. The couple who met on a blind date plan to wed in May 2018.
With her impending marriage and relocation to the U.K., the future princess has announced that she is leaving Suits and her acting career behind in favor of humanitarian and charitable endeavors.
According to TMZ , the Los Angeles born-and-raised actress who also played an FBI agent on two episodes of the sci-fi series Fringe on the Fox Network, was “kind, polite, and nice” to her co-workers on the game show.
Meghan Markle took the Deal or No Deal gig, which she characterized as a learning experience, as a way to pay the rent between auditions when she was an aspiring actress and model, she told Esquire magazine in 2013. The TV show also helped her “understand what I would rather be doing,” which seems something along the lines of a backhanded compliment.
The Northwestern University graduate also revealed that she never held the winning silver briefcase or suitcase sought after by the contestants.
“I didn’t ever have it. I don’t think I did. I was the ill-fated number 26, which for some reason no one would ever choose. I would end up standing up there forever in these terribly uncomfortable and inexpensive five-inch heels just waiting for someone to pick my number so I could go and sit down.”
Markle also wore numbers 11 and 12 on Deal or No Deal.
The object of the show was for contestants to eliminate as many of the lower-dollar-amount briefcases as possible, with a $1 million case lurking somewhere among the 26. “The amount in the final case is the amount of money the contestant would take home,” the Daily Mail explained.
She likely won’t have to worry about covering the rent or putting food on the table ever again, as the lucky bride-to-be is expected to reside at lavish Kensington Palace in London after the spring nuptials when she becomes a member of the British royal family. Prince William and Kate Middleton , the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, also live at the same exclusive address.
Other celebrities who originally appeared on Deal or No Deal in the briefcase-opening role back in the day include Chrissy Teigen , Leyla Milani, and Claudia Jordan.
Watch the Meghan Markle Deal or No Deal footage that was unearthed by Inside Edition below.