Much has been made of Meghan Markle’s upcoming lifestyle show on Netflix. Ever since the trailer dropped last week, it has been viewed millions of times and featured on most major outlets.
But not all of the coverage has been favourable – and critics have warned that the series could well be Meghan’s last chance to impress.
The Duchess of Sussex announced her new show, With Love, Meghan, on her newly-launched Instagram account with a trailer showing her performing various activities from choosing fresh flowers, harvesting honey, kneading homemade bread and working in the kitchen in a rented $5 million Montecito mansion.
The streaming giant described the show in a press release as an “inspiring series” that “reimagines the genre of lifestyle programming, blending practical how-tos and candid conversation with friends, new and old”.
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However, some have argued that the whole concept seems contrived and that while Meghan is being touted as ‘relatable’, she is anything but.
“I don’t think anyone is excited by this,” a Hollywood executive told The New York Post. “Everybody in entertainment is sending that ridiculous trailer back and forth, being like … ‘What is this show about? I don’t get it.'”
Furthermore, the exec said that Meghan’s new series is the Sussexes’s last chance at streaming relevancy in Hollywood. “It’s so sad because they had this huge platform. Now I can’t really see [Markle] doing much else in terms of… pushing herself into the public eye,” they added.
Certainly the pressure seems on. With Love, Meghan is reportedly the final entry in the couple’s multimillion-dollar Netflix deal, which is set to end this year.
Earlier this month, Harry and Meghan released their Polo docu-series on the streamer to poor reviews. The Telegraph branded the series as “tedious”, while the Mail on Sunday dismissed it as a “load of old tosh”. The Guardian stated that “Polo looks destined to fall through the submenus into obscurity at the speed of light. And rightly so”.
After Polo failed to impress, a source told MailOnline: “There won’t be another deal. There may be one offs but that’s it.” And one Californian insider told Alison Boshoff: “It’s make or break. People say Netflix are exhausted. It’s so much work with her and, bluntly, the ‘deliverable’ does not seem to be worth it.”
Another industry executive admitted: “Her show will have to be an enormous hit to turn around their deal and their reputations in this town.”
Harry and Meghan signed a five-year agreement with Netflix in 2020, worth an estimated $100million (£80million). It is due to come to an end in autumn. Whether or not the streaming giant will continue to work with the couple remains to be seen – especially after the Sussexes’ £15million Spotify contract abruptly ended early in June 2023.
Insiders have stated that any new deal with the streamer will amount to nothing like the $100 million they previously received, primarily due to the lack of content the couple have actually produced.
Aside from Meghan’s new lifestyle series, they have released just four projects through the streaming giant, all of which are docuseries: Harry & Meghan, following their love story, Heart of Invictus, about Prince Harry’s Invictus Games, Polo, and Live to Lead, highlighting inspiring world leaders.