Meghan Markle has 'Deal or No Deal' to thank for meeting Prince Harry, says co-star

Model Lisa Gleave accused Meghan Markle of disrespecting and insulting "Deal or No Deal," a game show which she said led the actress to "Suits" and to Prince Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex revealed in her "Archetypes" Spotify podcast that she felt like a "bimbo" while working as one of the briefcase girls on the show. She said she left because it made her feel "objectified" and "not smart."

Following her revelation, many of her former co-stars have since defended "Deal or No Deal." One of them is the Australian model, who said Meghan Markle should thank the show because it was a stepping stone in her career and in her landing a British royal for a husband.

She told the Daily Mail, "She was a struggling actress and I think if it wasn't for 'Deal Or No Deal' she probably wouldn't be where she is now. She might not have met Harry, she might not have been cast on Suits."

As for her experience on the show, she admitted that "it was a joy and a great career move" and that she never looked at it as "a show that objectified women" because the cast and crew treated them very well.

She added, "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."

Gleave acknowledged that while the show "revolved around beautiful women" who were "all smart and intelligent." She said, "Nobody treated us like bimbos."

She also commented on the Duchess of Sussex's revelation that she was told to "suck it in" by a manager, saying they were all told the same "at one point or another" because their dresses "were tight and tailored" to their bodies so they "couldn't slouch or over-eat."

Gleave said she never got to personally know Meghan Markle from their time on "Deal or No Deal" because they never mingled together after the show. She remembered that the duchess "spent a lot of her free time studying scripts for auditions."