Meghan! Gaga! Stars Who Appeared on Game Shows Before They Were Famous
Fun and games! Before making it big in Hollywood, stars such as Meghan Markle and Lady Gaga made their first foray into show business with appearances on popular game shows.
Markle briefly served as a briefcase model on Deal or No Deal prior to becoming a household name on Suits and going on to marry Prince Harry. In February 2018, the former royal opened up to Esquire about her time on the game show.
“Working on Deal or No Deal was a learning experience, and it helped me to understand what I would rather be doing,” Markle told the publication at the time. “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.”
Howie Mandel, who hosted Deal or No Deal when Markle was on the show, joked at the 2018 TCA summer press tour about Markle being “slightly duchessy” during her brief stint on the series. Meanwhile, executive producer Scott St. John said, “She was not involved in many episodes, but I did remember her. She was a very nice person.”
The world has come to know Gaga as a multifaceted Grammy and Academy Award-winning pop star. However, years prior, a young Stefani Germanotta made a 2005 appearance on MTV’s Boiling Points, where she was unknowingly targeted in a prank.
Rebekka Johnson, an actress who was tasked with pranking Gaga, dished about her experience with the “Bad Romance” singer. While the GLOW actress noted that Gaga was “pretty cool” about everything in the end, the lead up to that moment was rocky.
“I remember when she went downstairs she stayed on her phone for a long time,” Johnson told MTV News in 2009. “We almost decided to end the shoot because we weren’t sure when she was coming back up.”
Many high-profile names have appeared on game shows after fame as well. In December 2019, Seth Rogen stopped by The Price Is Right to raise money for Hilarity for Charity, an organization he cofounded with wife Lauren Miller Rogen to help combat Alzheimer’s disease. Kim Kardashian, for her part, got the chance to appear on a celebrity edition of her favorite game show, Family Feud, in July 2018.
“That is mine and Kanye [West]’s favorite show ever,” the Skims founder said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the time. “I started to get really scared from all the crime shows that I’d watch… I used to be obsessed, and then I got really scared of it and I was like, ‘What can I watch now that I’m afraid of all crime shows?’ And Family Feud was it. It’s like Friends and Family Feud.”
Scroll down to see which of today’s biggest stars have made a game show appearance pre-fame!
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The former Governor of California made an appearance on The Dating Game before making it big as a movie star, appearing in The Terminator franchise among other blockbusters. At the time he surfaced on the series in 1973, he still wasn’t the megastar he is today after only acting in Hercules in New York.
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While she wasn’t a contestant on Deal or No Deal, the former Tig blogger appeared on the NBC game show as a briefcase girl in 2006 and 2007. She went on to land her biggest acting role to date as Rachel Zane on Suits, which she did for seven seasons before marrying Harry in May 2018. The couple are now parents to son Archie and officially departed royal life together in March 2020.
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Martin has starred in huge films including The Jerk, Little Shop of Horrors and Father of the Bride. Before launching a successful film career, the comedic actor served as a guest panelist on an episode of The Gong Show in the 1970s. At the time, Martin even showed off his banjo-playing skills.
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Ahead of her breakout role as Miranda Hobbes on Sex and the City and her unsuccessful run against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Nixon hit the small screen on To Tell The Truth in 1975. She was just 9 at the time, but she started her career as a child actor three years later.
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The “Shallow” songstress’ appearance on the 2000s MTV show resulted in her “cursing” out the actress pulling the prank on her. Three years later, she had her first megahit with “Just Dance.” The rest, as they say, is history!
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Hamm became a household name through his Mad Men character Don Draper. Since then, he’s gone on to star in films such as Bad Times at the El Royale and Baby Driver. Before making a name for himself in the industry, a long-haired version of Hamm popped up on The Big Date in 1995. “I was all of 24 years old and making some questionable decisions in my life, as you could see,” he said of being on the short-lived series while on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson in 2014.
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In 1979, Alley, then an interior designer, made her TV debut on the NBC game show. Eight years later, she made it big with her role on Cheers, joining the series after Shelley Long left. She went on to star in movies such as Drop Dead Gorgeous and It Takes Two in addition to appearing on other shows including Veronica’s Closet and Scream Queens.
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Early in her foray into acting, Fields stopped by The Dating Game in 1967. Now, Fields is an Academy Award winner whose body of work includes films such as Steel Magnolias, Mrs. Doubtfire and Forrest Gump.
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Cowell is no stranger to the competition show realm, having served as a judge and creator on American Idol, X-Factor and America’s Got Talent. However, earlier in his career, he made an appearance on Sale of the Century in 1989. He walked away as the episode’s winner, collecting a set of kitchen utensils as his prize.
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Paul notably played Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad from 2008 to 2013 and joined the cast of Westworld in its third season. Before this, he made an appearance on The Price Is Right in 2000. Though he lost the Showcase Showdown by overbidding on a car, Paul got the chance to redeem himself 17 years later on The Late Late Show With James Corden. However, he ultimately lost in the same portion of the show for the second time.
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The former Sports Illustrated model was a briefcase girl on Deal or No Deal at the same time Markle was. When Teigen stopped by Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in February 2018, she opened up about her experience on the NBC show. “I think she came in the second season or something,” she recalled. “I did it from pilot season to [the] first season, and then I got demoted because I couldn’t walk down the stairs. I got fired or something.”
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The ’90s was a major decade for Fatone. Not only was it the decade where he became a member of ‘NSync, but it was also a time where he appeared on the Nickelodeon game show, Nick Arcade. At the time, he incorrectly named late President Abraham Lincoln as a Democrat instead of a Republican, ultimately costing his team the win. He also told host Phil Moore that he liked to sing in the shower.
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Like Schwarzenegger and Fields, Selleck made an appearance on The Dating Game. He surfaced on the show once in 1965 and again in 1967. He’s since become a household name through starring roles on Magnum, P.I. and Blue Bloods and in films including Three Men and a Baby.
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Before landing breakout roles as Lindsay Weir on cult favorite series Freaks and Geeks and Velma in the live-action Scooby-Doo franchise, the Dead to Me actress made her TV debut on The Price is Right in 1994. “I bid $1,000," she said in an NPR interview in 2017. “I was one of the first people called up to contestant’s row, which I have to say was maybe one of the most exciting things that has ever actually happened to me. Like, this business is very exciting, but nothing happens all at once.”
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