Abigail Spencer believes audience interest in Meghan Markle led to “Suits” reaching a new streaming record four years after the hit show ended.
“I think there’s several different things,” the “Mad Men” actress — who guest starred on the USA Network show alongside the Duchess of Sussex — said on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show,” per People.
“And also Meghan’s loveliness, you know, that everyone is aware of her and her being on the show.”
Spencer said she also thinks Markle and her husband Prince Harry’s 2022 six-part Netflix docuseries might have also influenced audience interest since “Suits” shares the same streaming platform.
Spencer, 42, theorizes Netflix may have taken advantage of promoting the nine-season show, which ran from 2011 to 2019, last year when the writers and actors strike was ongoing.
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“During the strike, there wasn’t anything else,” she continued.
“You know, Netflix repositioned it, so I think there is something to positioning on Netflix and when other things aren’t being made, it commands your attention, but it has to be great for people to watch it.”
Last summer, it was revealed that “Suits” reached 3.14 billion streaming minutes during the week of June 26 to July 2, shortly after debuting on the streaming platform, per Nielsen.
Markle, also 42, starred as paralegal Rachel Zane in the drama up to Season 7 in 2017. She then left the show due to her engagement to Harry, 39.
In November 2023, the mom of two commented on the show’s revived popularity, admitting she had “no idea” as to why more people were tuning in.
“Isn’t that wild?” Markle previously told Variety while gushing about her time on set alongside co-stars Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht.
“It was great to work on, such a great cast and crew. We had a really fun time,” she continued.
“But it’s hard to find a show you can binge-watch that many episodes of these days, so that could have something to do with it. But good shows are everlasting.”
Earlier this month, Page Six exclusively revealed Markle rejected the invitation to reunite with the “Suits” cast at the Golden Globes on Jan. 7.
During the show, her former co-stars Adams, Macht, Sarah Rafferty and Gina Torres presented the best TV drama award to the cast of “Succession.”
“We asked the duchess, but we were told that, unfortunately, she had a previous commitment,” an insider told us.
