Former ESPN host Ryen Russillo revealed Meghan Markle once turned him down despite him believing she was “obtainable.”
The TV personality recalled meeting the now-Duchess of Sussex at a celebrity flag football game in February 2014 while appearing on an episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast” last week.
“It was all of the [Sports Illustrated] swimsuit models. So, nobody was really paying any attention to Markle,” he claimed.
“I was like, ‘That’s my lane. She’s probably doubting herself a little bit right now,’” Russillo, 49, continued. “She’s never been more obtainable.”
According to People, models Chrissy Teigen, Hannah Davis and Nina Agdal participated in the event alongside Markle, 43, and fellow actors Nina Dobrev and Michael B. Jordan.
While Russillo didn’t shoot his shot at the game, he recalled later jumping into the actress’ DMs to ask her to appear on his sports program, “The Ryan Russillo Show,” to promote Season 4 of “Suits,” which was about to premiere.
“It was a very soft sell,” he further explained. “It was, ‘Hey, I know the new season … is coming out if you ever want to come on the show to promote it.’ It was really professional.”
Although Russillo admitted his message had an ulterior motive, Markle didn’t take the bait.
“It was ice cold,” the sports personality said of her response. “It was, ‘Oh, I don’t know anything about sports, but thanks for the offer.”
Markle starred as Rachel Zane in seven seasons of “Suits” from 2011 to 2018.
The duchess left the hit series before marrying Prince Harry in May 2018 at St. George’s Chapel in London.
She lived across the pond with her husband until the couple stepped away from their royal positions less than two years later.
In 2020, Markle and Harry, 40, packed up their belongings and moved to California, where they stayed at Tyler Perry’s Beverly Hills mansion for four months before moving into their $14 million estate in Montecito.
The royals share 5-year-old son Prince Archie and 3-year-old daughter Princess Lilibet.
They remain estranged from Harry’s family members abroad and reportedly did not get invited to this year’s royal Christmas gathering at Sandringham.
