Kaylah Walton
A previous host from ESPN shared his experience of attempting to invite Meghan Markle onto his program, which ended poorly as she rejected him in a rather “distant” way, although he approached her professionally.
Ryan Russillo encountered the former star of Suits at a celebrity flag football event, noticing that she wasn’t receiving much attention from the guests, which he viewed as an opportunity to enhance his media profile.
The 49-year-old said he felt she was “reachable” and decided to approach her at the gathering, which also featured guests like Chrissy Teigen, Hannah Davis, Nina Agdal, as well as Michael B. Jordan and Nina Dobrev.
“There were several [Sports Illustrated] swimsuit models,” Russillo recounted on The Bill Simmons Podcast. “So, Markle was not getting much attention.”
“I thought to myself, ‘This is my moment. She might be feeling a bit insecure right now. She’s never seemed more accessible.'”
He then made an attempt to reach out to her via social media, but she declined his invitation.
“It was a gentle proposal,” Russillo added. “It was along the lines of, ‘Hey, I know there’s a new season about to begin, if you’d like to come on the show to discuss it.'”
“It was quite a formal approach. [Markle] responded coldly, saying, ‘Oh, I don’t know much about sports, but thank you for the invitation.’
Markle’s Departure from Suits
Markle portrayed Rachel Zane in the legal series starting in 2011, where her character transitioned from a paralegal to a lawyer and became romantically involved with the lead character. However, she resigned in 2018 when she was set to marry Prince Harry.
Due to British Royal Family rules, she was unable to continue on the USA Network series, leading to her and Mike Ross being written off the show. Their wedding took place at St. George’s Chapel in London.
Mike Ross returned in later episodes and the series finale, but Markle did not reprise her role. She is now a mother of two with the Prince and has been living in Montecito, California, since 2020.
