MEGHAN struggled to book Hollywood stars for her new “make or break” Netflix cookery show which came in for a roasting from critics yesterday.
A few pals and neighbours turned up and two celeb chefs the Duchess of Sussex had never met — but none of her A-list chums such as Oprah Winfrey or the Beckhams.
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Meghan struggled to book Hollywood stars for her new ‘make or break’ Netflix cookery showCredit: JENNA PEFFLEY/NETFLIX
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Harry is restricted to brief cameos in the series filmed at a farmhouse near their mansion in MontecitoCredit: Netflix
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Guests clink glasses during a typical ‘syrupy’ scene in the stage-managed showCredit: JAKE ROSENBERG/NETFLIX
Instead, viewers see her with her make-up artist Daniel Martin and a sprinkling of other minor celebs in the eight-part cookery offering, entitled With Love, Meghan.
One reviewer called it “gormless” and “so pointless it might be the Sussexes’ last TV show”.
Another complained that the “banter” between Meghan and her guests had “all the spark of a dead battery”.
The series, in which Prince Harry, 40, is restricted to brief cameos, was filmed at a farmhouse near the Sussexes’ mansion in Montecito, California.
It was the couple’s second show for Netflix after Harry & Meghan in 2022 in which she mocked the late Queen with an elaborate curtsy during the six-part whinge-fest.
Meghan, 43, put out failed Spotify podcast Archetypes in the same year, which did at least draw big name stars including Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton.
This time, Abigail Spencer, who was in US drama Suits with Meghan, appears as well as neighbour Delfina Blaquier, wife of polo pal Nacho Figueras.
Mum-of-two Meg’s LA pal Kelly Zajfen also shows along with skincare tycoon Vicky Tsai, who also made an appearance in Harry & Meghan.
Actress Mindy Kaling, who was in the failed podcast, is in one episode.
When Kaling, star of the US version of The Office, refers to her as “Meghan Markle”, the Duchess corrects her, saying: “It’s so funny you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know I’m Sussex now.’”
Meghan Markle copies Princess Diana’s iconic look as she gives tour of garden in California mansion
Meg cooks pointless recipes in £20k kitchen to delight of her millionaire mates… WHO will relate to that? expert slams
Meghan, who has not visited Britain since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022, adds: “I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me but it just means so much to go ‘This is our family name. Our little family name’.” Mindy replies: “Well, now I know.”
Meanwhile, celebrity chefs Roy Choi and Alice Waters, who are only known to Stateside viewers, are in one episode each.
One reviewer said Meghan was so fawning over Waters that her guest appeared “faintly alarmed”.
Among stars watchers may have expected to see were tennis pal Serena Williams, who appeared with Meghan and Princess Lilibet on Instagram a few days ago, and George and Amal Clooney who were at the Sussexes’ wedding.
A source told The Sun: “They struggled to book guests. They had a real hard time, and it shows.”
Insiders believe Netflix’s tie-up for With Love, Meghan and her As Ever lifestyle products brand is a “make or break” moment for her.
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Meghan cuts a cake watched by make-up artist Daniel MartinCredit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX
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Meg makes an intricate fruit rainbow but is accused of ripping off the recipe from Los Angeles food blogger Meg QuinnCredit: Netflix
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A critic posted: ‘She couldn’t even change up some of the fruits’Credit: ainttooproudtomeg
Sun columnist Jane Moore described the 33-minute episodes as “boring”.
She wrote: “It’s beautifully lit and the expert camerawork makes everything look like an M&S food ad on steroids, but never has the phrase ‘style over substance’ been so apt.”
She went on: “There’s nothing here that we haven’t seen a million times before . . . and done better by true experts.”
Giving it two stars, Anita Singh, the Telegraph’s arts and entertainment editor, said it was an “exercise in narcissism filled with extravagant brunches, celebrity pals and business plugs”.
She wrote: “The format is this: Meghan invites people to her pretend house — the show is filmed in an $8million farmhouse down the road from her $14million home — and they tell her how amazing she is. This happens for eight episodes.”
On Waters, she said: “Meghan didn’t know Waters beforehand but love-bombs her to the point where Waters looks faintly alarmed.”
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Happy clappy smiling TV chef Roy Choi with MeghanCredit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX
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Meg prepares food on the new showCredit: JAKE ROSENBERG/NETFLIX
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A source told The Sun: ‘They struggled to book guests, they had a real hard time, and it shows’Credit: Netflix
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It was the couple’s second show for Netflix after Harry & Meghan in 2022Credit: JAKE ROSENBERG/NETFLIX
In The Times, Carol Midgley wrote: “If you thought With Love, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s new lifestyle show, would be a smug, syrupy endurance watch, and that you would rather fry your eyeballs than sit through it, I have news for you. It is so much worse than that.”
Stuart Heritage wrote in The Guardian: “Kiss the Netflix deal goodbye! With Love, Meghan is so pointless it might be the Sussexes’ last TV show.”
In The Spectator, Alexander Larman wrote: “There is a tangible desperation here.”
The Irish Times described the episodes as “moribund” and “bland”. It added: “It doesn’t even rise to the status of a hate-watch.”
However, the series, which aired in the UK at 8am yesterday, is expected to top the Netflix charts.
FLOWER FOR A BIT OF DOUGH
By ROD McPHEE TV Editor
MEGHAN’S show was a long advert for much of the product range she launched on the same day that the series was released on Netflix.
The most obvious was the edible dried flowers which she sprinkled on everything from the sandwiches she hoped to serve to daughter and son Lilibet and Archie, to steak sandwiches and even a platter of raw vegetables.
Not surprisingly, they are available on her website, asever.com, at the bargain price of £20 a jar.
She has used lashings of honey and raspberry preserve in a cake, both of which appeared to be available on the same website, also for around £20.
At one point she also made a lemon and ginger tea which, conveniently, is also on the website for around the same price.
The range was actually advertised on Netflix’s own website on the same day that the show kicked off, with the promise the products would: “offer a bit of everything, be it for at-home chefs, budding hosts, or those simply looking to add sparks of joy to the everyday.”
Her site describes the millionaires’ playground of Montecito, where the show is based and many of the products originate, in more conservative terms saying it is a: “picturesque rural community.”
‘Presents spaghetti Biblically’
By ROD McPHEE TV Editor
THE most eye-rolling moment in Meghan’s new show comes when she presents a pot of boiled spaghetti and tomatoes like Moses delivering the Ten Commandments.
Yet here was a meal which I’m pretty sure every student in the world has made.
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Prince Harry raises a glass in honour of his wife’s culinary prowessCredit: Netflix
It’s only towards the end of episode one you realise this isn’t just her bid to flog some jams.
With Love, Meghan is a series of hints and metaphors designed to subtly change your mind about the Mary Berry of Montecito.
The most glaring comes when she delivers her “vision” of a honey and lemon cake: “She’s so beautiful on the inside. You just don’t know how good she is until you go deep.”
Okay, we hear you, Meg.
Except the feeling you’re left with isn’t that she’s incredibly deep, or good, or beautiful, it’s just that this is a woman with too much money and time on her hands.
And now she expects to part with more of our pounds to be a part of it.
‘Tea was an insult’
By ARTHUR EDWARDS Royal photographer
THE Duchess took an hour to show us how to make spaghetti, a cake and a cup of tea.
You’d have thought that after nearly seven years married to an Englishman she’d have learned how to make a proper cuppa but if anyone presented me with such a terrible cup of tea I’d be insulted.
This is not real life as real people know it.
