Ever since Meghan Markle first got engaged to Prince Harry, she has faced relentless bullying and hatred from the media. The former actress had to walk through fire to be where she is: happily married, a mother of two, a media personality, and a businesswoman of her lifestyle brand.
Meghan and Harry tied the knot in 2018, and after facing a lot of ire from the royal family, they decided to leave their duties and move to Montecito, where they live with their two kids, Archie and Lilibet. Ryen Russillo, a host on ESPN, has now opened up about meeting her a long time ago and how she turned him down. Here’s what he revealed about the old encounter.
When ESPN Host Thought Meghan Markle Was ‘Obtainable’
During a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Russillo recalled meeting Markle at a celebrity flag football game in February 2014. The event saw Hannah Davi, Chrissy Teigen, Nina Agdal, Nina Dobrev, and Michael B. Jordan appear apart from Markle.
The former ESPN employee revealed that the event was entirely of swimsuit models and claimed, “So, nobody was paying any attention to Markle.” He thought she must be doubting herself seeing all the beautiful women around her. “I was like, ‘That’s my lane,’” he divulged. “She’s never been more obtainable,” Russillo assumed about the Duchess of Sussex.
Despite his demeaning thoughts, he did not approach her at that game. He attempted to contact Markle later when he directly messaged her to invite her to his sports program, The Ryen Russillo Show. At that time, she was starring in the popular legal drama Suits, and season 4 was all set for release. Russillo sent the invite as a platform to promote the new season.
Talking about his offer, the host disclosed, “It was a very soft sell. It was, ‘Hey, I know the new season is coming out. Do you ever want to come on the show to promote it?’ It was professional.” He did accept that though his offer seemed innocent enough, the motive was to go after Markle more naturally and came across as not too desperate.
When Markle Markle Turned Down ESPN Host In ‘Ice Cold’ Manner
Russillo was in for a major shock when he saw that the Duchess refused to accept his invitation. His assumptions about her being “obtainable” went down the drain as she rejected his offer. “It was ice cold. It was, ‘Oh, I don’t know anything about sports, but thanks for the offer,’” the 49-year-old sportscaster accepted. Meanwhile, Markle left the popular show after seven long seasons on Suits. She played Rachel Zane opposite Patrick J. Adams.
Towards the end of 2017, she got engaged to Prince Harry, and the two got married in 2018. For more such updates, check out the Hollywood section.
