Why Chrissy Teigen Says Meghan Markle Is Nothing Like The Headlines Claim

Chrissy Teigen has had enough of the unfair stories about Meghan Markle.

The outspoken model is setting the record straight, revealing a side of the Duchess of Sussex that few people see.

In a new interview, Teigen shared how her friendship with Meghan has grown over the years and why she believes the harsh headlines couldn’t be further from the truth. According to her, Meghan is simply a kind, strong woman living her life.

Chrissy Teigen is standing up for her friend Meghan and giving fans a glimpse into who the Duchess really is, far from the drama-filled headlines.

During Hello Sunshine’s Shine Away event on Oct. 11, the TV personality opened up to PEOPLE about her friendship with the Duchess and her recent appearance on season two of the Netflix series “With Love, Meghan.”

“I adore her,” Teigen said warmly. “I really adore her. I think she is so incredibly strong.”

The 39-year-old admitted she is baffled by how polarizing her friend has become.

“It’s insane to me how polarizing she is for so many different people,” she said. “She really is such a kind, good person who wants the best for her friends, her family, and the people around her.”

Teigen explained that Meghan isn’t trying to impress anyone or shape public opinion.

“People come up with all these different things that she could be about or what she wants,” she shared. “But it’s not that complicated.”

According to Chrissy Teigen, Meghan’s biggest wish isn’t fame or power, but peace.

The “Cravings” author told the outlet that the mom of two’s quiet life is often misunderstood.

“People are always going to read into what they want to read into, and they’re going to hyperfocus on what they want to believe,” Teigen said. “But Meghan just wants happiness and health for her family.”

Teigen admires how Meghan handles the constant criticism that comes with being one of the world’s most watched women.

“I think it’s cool that [Meghan] is just like, ‘Listen, say whatever you want. I’m happy and I’m healthy and I feel good,’” she added.

It is that calm strength, Teigen explained, that makes Meghan so inspiring to those who know her personally.

Teigen and Meghan’s friendship actually began long before royal titles and bestselling cookbooks.

The two first met almost twenty years ago when they both worked as briefcase models on the hit game show “Deal or No Deal.”

Meghan appeared on the show between 2006 and 2007, while Teigen worked on the pilot and first season in 2005 and 2006.

Their paths crossed again when Teigen joined Meghan for an episode of “With Love, Meghan,” where they reflected on their beginnings.

At the start of the episode, the 44-year-old looked back on her auditioning days in Hollywood.

“I remember when I used to audition,” she said per the Daily Mail. “I’d get so nervous. I’d always get blotchy on my chest. I just started auditioning in turtlenecks only. I was like, ‘Nothing to see here!’”

Meghan told viewers she was “so excited” to reunite with Teigen, sharing, “I haven’t seen her in almost 20 years. I reached out and we reconnected just a couple years ago.”

The women’s on-screen reunion was full of laughter and nostalgia.

Meghan told Chrissy Teigen, “I was thinking about how many moons ago we crossed paths. That was a past life — that was good old Deal or No Deal.”

Teigen laughed, saying, “I feel like our lives have had so many chapters and that one being a really important, really funny one. I remember basically being a backup girl — the alternate!”

The Duchess recalled the fun and chaos backstage, saying, “I remember coming off stage one day and they held like a Ziploc bag open and we all took our eyelashes off and put it in there.”

Laughing at the memory, Teigen chimed in “I was like, ‘Are these for… tomorrow?’ What a time, though.”

Meghan also reflected on how much their lives have changed since those days, admitting she was simply grateful for stability back then.

“I was just so happy to have health insurance. I left that show and then a year or so later you got famous. I was like, ‘Oh my god, she’s on the cover of Sports Illustrated! How far we’ve come.’”

Teigen might be a global star, but she admitted she is more of a homebody these days.

When asked during her interview with PEOPLE if her and husband John Legend’s kids ever have playdates with Meghan and Prince Harry’s children, Teigen laughed.

“It would be a fun get-together, but I don’t leave the house,” she joked. “I’m not joking. I don’t go anywhere. I try to do every photo shoot, every everything at our house. So no. But if the time came up, absolutely.”

The mom of four also opened up about her advocacy for early type 1 diabetes screening following her son Miles’ diagnosis.

“When Miles was first diagnosed, we were really scared, we were really nervous,” she told the outlet. “We’re so lucky to have had Sanofi engage us in being able to talk about early detection and early screening for T1D, because it created a community — where we felt like we had people that genuinely cared.”