A former American sports radio host has revealed how an ‘ice cold’ Meghan Markle once rejected his advances, despite him thinking the Duchess of Sussex was ‘obtainable’.

Ryen Russillo, 49, explained how he met Markle while playing in a celebrity flag football game during Super Bowl weekend in New York a decade ago.

The event featured a star-studded lineup with former NFL players, celebrities and a number of Sports Illustrated swimsuit models – including Chrissy Teigen and Nina Agdal – all taking part.

It also came just three months before the fourth season of Markle’s legal drama ‘Suits’ was due to premiere and two years before she started dating Prince Harry.

Russillo revealed how he asked Markle if she wanted to appear on his ESPN radio show to promote the new series, but the offer was not warmly received. 

Speaking on ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast’, he said: ‘We played in a celebrity flag football game together and it was all of the swimsuit models. So, nobody was really paying any attention to Markle.

Meghan Markle (pictured in 2014) rejected former ESPN radio host Ryen Russillo, he claims

It was at this flag football event where Markle’s friendship with Serena Williams blossomed

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

Russillo says he followed up with Markle after the event and sent her a message on social media.

‘It was a very soft sell,’ he continued. ‘It was, “Hey, I know the new season of Suits is coming out if you ever want to come on the show to promote it.” It was really professional.

‘It was like a gauging of interest. Like, if I got an emoji back, who knows?’

Markle eventually did reply, but it was not the response Russillo hoped for.

‘It was ice cold,’ he claims. ‘It was, “Oh, I don’t know anything about sports, but thanks for the offer.”‘

While Markle shut down Russillo at that Super Bowl, the event did prove to be the start of her friendship with tennis icon Serena Williams.

The pair have been close friends since 2014 after having their first ‘real hangout’ at the DirecTV Beach Bowl, although they briefly crossed paths in 2010 at the Super Bowl. 

Russillo said he invited the Duchess of Sussex on his radio show to promote a new Suits series

The event is said to have happened in 2014, two years before she started dating Prince Harry

Meghan wrote on her now defunct blog The Tig: ‘We hit it off immediately, taking pictures, laughing through the flag football game we were both playing in, and chatting not about tennis or acting, but about all the good old fashioned girlie stuff. So began our friendship’.

The Duchess of Sussex has now swapped flag football for the more glamorous life of polo and her new Netflix series about the sport was released on Tuesday.

The five-episode series follows the glittering lives of polo stars as they compete in the US Open, featuring hunky athletes and their very glamorous partners.

In the show, Meghan cut an elegant figure in a $812 (£650) dress, $3,400 (£2,650) Maison Valentino bag, adding pieces of jewelry worth thousands of pounds.

She had hoped the latest installment of her $100million (£80m) Netflix deal would make the sport ‘more accessible’, according to executive producer and showrunner Miloš Balać.

The horse-riding activity is often known as the ‘sport of kings’ due to being beloved by the royals, including Harry himself – while the pricey hobby costs tens of thousands of pounds to play and is far from accessible to a person of average income.