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Craig Ferguson instantly regretted the 'creepy' joke he made about Meghan Markle in school uniform

The conversation took an uncomfortable turn when Ferguson made an inappropriate joke about Markle wearing a school uniform.

Meghan Markle's appearance on ‘The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson’ in 2013 couldn't have been more awkward. The conversation took an uncomfortable turn when Ferguson made an inappropriate joke about Markle wearing a school uniform. The Duchess, dressed in a short black mini dress, entered the stage looking beautiful, but the interview soon turned sour when Ferguson made his crude remark.

The host began by complimenting Markle's appearance, saying she looked ‘sensational’ before oddly commenting on how smooth her skin was. He noted, "What a strangely hairless body you have. You're quite the dolphin, aren't you? You're absolutely hair-free. Are you a competitive swimmer?" Unsure how to respond, Markle chuckled uncomfortably. Things only went downhill thereafter when Markle mentioned her childhood experience on the set of ‘Married…with Children.’ She explained, "I grew up on the set every day after school for ten years. It's a very perverse place for a little girl who went to Catholic school no less to grow up. I'm there in my school uniform, right..." as reported by Mirror.

Ferguson responded with suggestive,  "Ohhh yeah," followed by laughter from the audience. Sensing the awkwardness, she let out an awkward giggle, while Ferguson backtracked, adding, "It was a joke, it was a joke, errrrr, kind of a joke." However, the damage was done as viewers cringed back home. A resurfaced clip of the same has ignited backlash, with many calling out Ferguson’s inappropriate humor, Harper's Bazaar reported.

On X (formerly Twitter) a person wrote, "I'm horrified by this creepy and sexist interview of Meghan Markle by Craig Ferguson. The poor girl had to endure his sexual advances the entire interview and couldn't get a word in edgewise!" In agreement, another added, "Poor Meghan and ew Craig Ferguson... totally hairless and catholic school girl uniform? Stop." On YouTube, a netizen exclaimed, "It's grim to see this sweaty fool Ferguson leering over her like an embarrassing granddad at a wedding. Who tells a woman she's completely hairless and thinks that's witty? Sad and creepy."

Fast forward to the present, Markle is making headlines again for a different talk show appearance—this time with Drew Barrymore. Unlike Ferguson’s inappropriate humor, Barrymore’s was overly affectionate. Body language expert Judi James noted that Markle seemed visibly unpleased with Barrymore’s clinginess. Barrymore consistently wrapped her arms around Markle’s waist and leaned her head against her.

James explained, “This is a rare pose from Meghan, who is normally the first one to move in with the hugs to register the warm, spontaneously tactile side that was apparently met with a tsunami of ice water from the royal firm back in the UK…Meghan adopted a straight, polite, more regal-looking pose, perhaps mirroring the kind of response she was met with from the UK royals when she was busy hugging them…Her hand was hanging in her pocket rather than reciprocating the display of affection and she flashed a wide social smile at the camera rather than tilting her head in a reciprocal gesture.”