Presenter reveals moment Meghan Markle 'shot him down' in bizarre claim about actress

While you might find the notion of being rejected by a crush somewhat embarrassing, one television star is seemingly proud to have been knocked back by Meghan Markle.

In an admission made this week, ex-ESPN host Ryen Russillo claimed he made a move on the duchess in 2014 - two years before she began dating Prince Harry - revealing that she brutally binned him off.

Russillo claimed to have met Meghan in 2014 while she was single (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Greenwich Film Festival 2015)

Prior to Harry, mother-of-two Meghan only enjoyed a handful of public romances.

In 2011, she wed now-ex husband, American film producer Trevor Engelson, in a plush beach-side ceremony in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, after six years of dating.

Their marriage only last two years, however, and their divorce was finalised in 2013.

After that, she briefly dated Canadian chef Cory Vitiello between 2014-2016.

Between her divorce and her romance with Vitiello, however, Meghan was single - well, that's what Ryen Russillo alleges.

Describing the duchess - who wed Harry in 2018 after two years of dating - as 'obtainable' during this period of her life, the sports commentator also told press that he even got close to whisking her off on a romantic evening after a chance encounter.

Russillo claimed Meghan was 'obtainable' at the time (Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic)

Speaking on The Bill Simmons Podcast earlier this week, 49-year-old Russillo claimed he met Meghan at a celebrity flag football game in February 2014.

She'd been working as an actress on hit legal-drama Suits at the time, and had appeared at the high-profile event alongside a series of models, including the likes of Chrissy Teigen, Hannah Davis and Nina Agdal, as well as fellow actors Nina Dobrev and Michael B. Jordan.

"It was all of the [Sports Illustrated] swimsuit models. So, nobody was really paying any attention to Markle," Russillo claimed this week.

"I was like, ‘That’s my lane. She’s probably doubting herself a little bit right now. She’s never been more obtainable."

The pundit went on to add that while he opted not to make his move on Meghan at the event, he slid into her DMs under the guise of inviting her to appear on his self-fronted sports programme at the time.

Russillo added that he'd hoped she'd take the bait of promoting Suits on the show, the fourth series of which was about to air at the time.

"It was a very soft sell," he continued. "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."

Meghan wed Prince Harry in 2018 (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for W+P)

Unfortunately for Russillo, however, it sounds as though Meghan was already aware of his game plan.

"It was ice cold," he added of her reply. "It was, ‘Oh, I don’t know anything about sports, but thanks for the offer.'"

Savage... we love it Megs.