Bake Off’s Prue Leith provides blunt verdict on Meghan Markle after Netflix present
Prue Leith has shared her honest opinion on the Duchess of Sussex’s new lifestyle Netflix show.
With Love, Meghan, which sees the former Suits actor invite celebrity friends to join her while flower arranging and making cocktails among other domestic duties, has been panned by critics, with viewers echoing their dissatisfaction.
Bake Off judge Leith appeared on Good Morning Britain alongside her husband John Playfair to discuss their new show Cotswold Kitchen, when hosts Kate Garraway and Rob Rinder asked if she had watched Meghan’s programme.
“No – I’ve only read about it but I honestly wouldn’t watch it,” she replied. “I’m not a Meghan Markle fan. All that touchy-feely, mindfulness, endless worrying about what creams you put on your hands.”
She continued: “I just think there’s more to life than how you look and how your friends think of you,” adding, “I’ve probably alienated half my fans.”
Comedian Katherine Ryan recently gave a scathing review of the series, saying on her podcast, Telling Everybody Everything: “I liked Meghan Markle. I was rooting for Meghan Markle… though she is very Hollywood – even for me – and I don’t like that in people.”
The comedian continued: “She said on her new Netflix show that they ate TV dinners growing up. But then in an old interview, she was like, ‘we would eat farm fresh’. Her whole act just seems very manicured and very forced.”
The Independent Katie Rosseinsky gave the show a one-star review, calling it “queasy and exhausting”.
She wrote: “With Love feels like a millennial blog come to life; it’s the TV version of The Tig, the website that Meghan launched and ran in her pre-royal, jobbing actor days, filmed with all the soft-filtered gloss of a Center Parcs advert.”
The Duke of Sussex makes just one appearance at the end of the final episode when he joins Meghan, her mother Doria Ragland and friends for an outdoor celebratory brunch.
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The Sussexes, who signed a multimillion-pound deal with Netflix in 2020, have previously put out the outspoken Harry & Meghan documentary, which features accusations against the royal family, and sport show Polo.
Meghan and Harry were bestowed the Sussex title by the late Queen Elizabeth II on their wedding day in 2018.
Although the couple were told they could no longer use their HRH titles after they stepped down from being working royals, they have still opted to use Sussex as their surname.
The second season of With Love, Meghan is coming in the autumn, and has already finished filming, according to Netflix. She has also announced plans for a new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, which will debut on 8 April and explore her experiences as an entrepreneur alongside other women in business.
