Simon Rex turned down a large payday and the Duchess was quick to show her gratitude. Photos / Getty Images
Simon Rex turned down a large payday and the Duchess was quick to show her gratitude. Photos / Getty Images
Meghan Markle's ex co-star, Simon Rex, turned down a massive payday to lie and say he had slept with the duchess.
And it turns out the magnitude of his gesture was not lost on Markle, who personally thanked the actor.
The Scary Movie star claimed he was offered $97,000 ($140,000)by British tabloids to say he had had sex with Markle, who appeared alongside him in a 2005 episode of the sitcom Cuts.
"I was broke as f**k!" Rex shared with the Guardian. "I really needed the money. But I'll be on food stamps before I do that."
"Nothing happened," he told the outlet. "We never even kissed. It was just, like, we hung out once in a very non-datey way. She was just someone I had met on a TV show and we got lunch. That was the extent of it."
When explaining why he walked away from the big payday, Rex said he turned down the offer because it "didn't feel right lying".
Markle was also known for her work on the legal drama Suits, where she played a character named Rachel Zane before she became the Duchess of Sussex when she married Prince Harry.
Actor Simon Rex. Photo / Getty Images
A year before the royal wedding, Markle confirmed during the couple's first joint interview that she decided to quit acting.
"What's been really exciting, as we talk about this as the transition out of my career … is that the causes that have been very important to me, I can focus even more energy on," she explained.
"You realise that as you have access or a voice that people are willing to listen to, [it comes with] a lot of responsibility, which I take seriously."
