Who is Hannah Simone? New Girl alum says Prince had a crush on her, but she “was not interested in that way”

New Girl alum Hannah Simone claimed that Prince had a crush on her but she wasn't interested. In an October 24, episode of her The Mess Around with Hannah and Lamorne podcast, Simone revealed that the Purple Rain hitmaker appeared in the 2014 New Girl season 3 episode titled Prince as he had a crush on her. The actress said:

"He tried for a very long time to find a way to be in the same room together. And ... I was not interested in that way. Love a Prince song, happy to put on a Prince record. I was not interested in anything else."

Canadian actress Hannah Simone is famous for her stint on the hit show New Girl as Cece Parekh. The actress portrayed a main role in the Fox Comedy which ran from 2011 to 2018 alongside stars like Zooey Deschanel and fellow podcast co-host Lamorne Morris.

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"It's like a teenage boy, he showed up at my job"- Hannah Simone on Prince having a crush on her

44-year-old Hannah Simone rose to fame for her portrayal of Cece Parikh on Fox's New Girl. In the show, which came to an end in 2018, Parekh was a former L.A.-based professional model turned bartender. Parekh was also the protective best friend of Zooey Deschanel's Jessica Day. She shared two kids with her love interest, Max Greenfield's Schmidt.

Apart from her role as Cece Parekh, Simone also did prominent roles in movies like the 2017 Arnold Schwarzenegger starrer Killing Gunther, 2015's Miss India America, and shows like the animated Mira, Royal Detective, and Not Dead Yet. Simone currently runs the New Girl rewatch podcast The Mess Around with Hannah and Lamorne alongside fellow New Girl alum Lamorne Morris.

During the October 24 episode of The Mess Around with Hannah and Lamorne, Hannah Simone confirmed the rumor that legendary singer Prince wanted to appear on New Girl as he had a crush on Simone. The singer appeared on the fourteenth episode of the show's third season in 2014, titled Prince where Deschanel's Jess and Simone's Cece got invited to a party at Prince's house.

During the podcast, the show's costume designer Debra McGuire also confirmed that Prince did the cameo due to his crush. As mentioned earlier, Hannah noted that although the singer tried for a very long time to be in the same room together, Simone just wasn't interested. The actress joked:

"It's like a teenage boy, he showed up at my job, which was really funny."

Hannah Simone also revealed that the singer had a bizarre request. Prince liked to play ping-pong with people he really liked to spend "quality time with". She continued:

"It was like 5 in the morning, they had to write in the tag [to play over the end credits], 'cause how were they going to incorporate ping-pong into the show? And they had to write this tag where Prince would get his request, which was: He wanted to play ping-pong with me."

According to the actress, filming the particular ping-pong scene was quite tense and it ended up being the last thing that they shot. Showrunners were "low-key scared" that if the singer got his request, he might simply leave as he was the legendary Prince. Hannah Simone said:

"So we saved it for the end. And the thing that I'll never [forget] is: I don't play ping-pong, I'm not a good ping-pong player. I was so tired. It had been a 20-something-hour day, and I just slammed the shot."

She added:

"My body just went like, 'We're doing it.' And then he was like — he genuinely did walk off, which was really funny."

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Purple Rain hitmaker Prince is considered to be among one of the most popular musicians of his generation. In an illustrious career, the musician managed to amass seven Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, and one Golden Globe before his tragic passing in April 2016 due to an accidental overdose of fentanyl. Prince was only 57-years-old.