Radio presenter Vick Hope has said mixed-race role models like the Duchess of Sussex would have given her “validation” growing up.
The Strictly Come Dancing contender said Meghan is a “great role model” and would have inspired her as a young girl.
Hope, who works for Amnesty International, said she admires Meghan for speaking out on subjects she is passionate about.
Speaking to Hello magazine, the 29-year-old Capital One Breakfast show host added that her parents had only bought a TV to watch her perform on Strictly.
Hope, who is partnered with professional dancer Graziano Di Prima, said: “If I had been younger now as a mixed-race girl, and I had seen someone who looked like me marrying into the royal family, it would have given me a level of validation, a feeling that you can be whatever you want to be.
“I think she is a great role model. She uses her voice to speak about things she really cares about.”
Hope grew up in Newcastle and was educated at the University of Cambridge, where she studied languages.
She is the daughter of a Nigerian mother and English father, and has said her parents are watching her progress on Strictly.
“My mum and dad went out and bought a TV just two weeks ago so they could watch me on Strictly,” she said.
“When I was growing up we didn’t have TV in our house which is perhaps why I work in TV because it seemed such a mythical thing.
“I am having the time of my life. I don’t think there’s a happier place than when you’re dancing and feeling the music.”
The full article can be read in Hello magazine, which is out now.