MEGHAN Markle’s heavily criticised Netflix show has been renewed for a second season as a new trailer dropped.
Footage showed the Duchess of Sussex alongside a host of famous guests ahead of the release of the second series of With Love, Meghan on August 26.
Meghan Markle in the trailer for the second season of her show With Love, Meghan[/caption]
The first season of her show aired on Netflix in March, with the new series set to land on August 26[/caption]
The first season of Meghan’s eight-part Netflix show saw her bee-keeping, making homemade candles and cooking with celeb pals, including Mindy Kaling and make-up artist Daniel Martin.
Now, the show’s second series promises to be “fun and heartwarming” as a plethora of celebrity guests are due to make their appearance.
This includes stars Chrissy Teigen, Christina Tosi, Jamie Kern Lima, and Tan France.
Describing the new season, Netflix said: “Meghan returns with a fun and heartwarming new season, welcoming celebrity chefs, talented artists, and beloved friends for hands-on adventures filled with laughter and discovery.
“From playful cooking challenges to DIY projects, Meghan and her guests explore bold flavors, experiment with new techniques, and discover simple ways to add beauty to everyday life.
“It’s all about embracing playfulness over perfection and finding joy in creating together.”
Meghan can be seen laughing alongside guests at her Montecito home in the trailer, even joking at the end about Prince Harry’s lack of love for lobster.
Speaking to Chef Andrés, she says: “You know who doesn’t like lobster? My husband.”
In response, the chef light-heartedly retorts: “And you married him anyway?”
This comes after Harry and Meghan announced yesterday they had signed a new “multi-year, first look deal” with the American streaming giant to produce “film and television projects”.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have previously released a number of shows on the platform, including a 2022 documentary on their lives and lifestyle show With Love, Meghan this year.
They had secured a lucrative five-year contract – thought to be worth more than $100 million (£74 million) – with Netflix after quitting as senior working royals in 2020.
However, this new deal has been signed for “much less”, an insider told Page Six.
Meghan said in a statement: “We’re proud to extend our partnership with Netflix and expand our work together to include the As Ever brand.
“My husband and I feel inspired by our partners who work closely with us and our Archewell Productions team to create thoughtful content across genres that resonates globally, and celebrates our shared vision.”
Netflix will only pay for projects they want to screen, rather than pay in a single multi-million pound agreement like the one signed in 2020, The Sun understands.
The Sun can also reveal, however, that the streaming giants will cover Archewell Productions’s overheads, including all costs for its offices and staff.
The new deal was also described as a “downgrade” by PR expert Mark Borkowski.
He told the Mail: “I think Netflix has done a very neat job of pivoting away from two very expensive people who didn’t deliver, and they’ve taken that deal off the table, and they’ve given them a modest one.
“It’s not like they’re gradually uncoupling – it’s a downgrade. Netflix are not going to expose themselves to those budgets again. It’s Netflix saying, ‘Let’s have a look at your content, but we’ll pick and choose, mate’.”
‘Meghan & Harry need to come up with a hit soon’
By Matt Wilkinson
JUST when you thought it was safe to turn the telly on again… Harry and Meghan are back. And their multi-year renewal with Netflix means they are not going away anytime soon.
There have been tense negotiations in recent weeks but Netflix is so deeply involved with Meghan’s As Ever brand it was always likely that the streaming giants would want them back.
Make no mistake, Harry and Meghan would have been desperate for the deal to be renewed. They will likely be opening a bottle or two of As Ever Rose in Montecito.
Because they have invested heavily in Archewell Productions and getting on board with Netflix is central not only to their post-Royal endeavours but more importantly crucial to their bank accounts.
If they lost their Netflix money then how could they afford their life in the US?
While the length of the deal or how much the couple are getting paid is vague we do know that Meghan will appear in a ‘holiday special’ in December that will likely clash with the Princess of Wales’s annual Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey.
And finally, two years after I revealed in The Sun the couple had bought the rights to the book Meet Me At The Lake, production is in active development.
Sources close to the couple are coy about whether Harry or Meghan will appear on screen for the production of Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within which will air later this year.
But perhaps the best piece of news from the announcement is no repeat of the six-part documentary which dumped on the Royal Family.
However, ‘Harry & Meghan’ was a ratings dream and none of their projects since have been anywhere as successful. They need to come up with a hit soon.
And this ‘first look’ deal means Netflix has the first option on new projects from the couple without any guaranteed commitment.
But remember the Sussexes are not the only Royals to be in bed with Netflix.
The King will feature in a documentary on The King’s Foundation with Idris Elba.
On top of Season 2 of With Love, Meghan – which will drop later this month – the couple will also film a “Holiday Celebration” Christmas special.
“Join Meghan in Montecito for a magical holiday celebration,” the announcement read.
“Together, friends and family deck the halls, create holiday feasts, craft heartfelt gifts, and share lots of laughs – with simple how-tos to follow at home. It’s a holiday wonder with warmth, tradition, and a generous dose of joy.”
The couple will also release a short film called “Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within” which will look at Uganda’s Masaka region and the HIV/AIDS crisis there.
This has echoes of Harry’s mum Diana’s work, who pioneered social change on perceptions of HIV/AIDS.
She famously shook the hand of a man suffering with the illness without gloves, publicly challenging the idea that HIV/Aids was passed from person to person by touch.
There is also “active development” on other projects with Netflix which “span a variety of content genres”, including a feature adaptation of the bestselling romantic novel by Carley Fortune, Meet Me At The Lake.
Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, said: “Harry and Meghan are influential voices whose stories resonate with audiences everywhere.
“The response to their work speaks for itself — Harry & Meghan gave viewers an intimate look into their lives and quickly became one of our most-watched documentary series.
“More recently, fans have been inspired by With Love, Meghan, with products from the new As Ever line consistently selling out in record time.
“We’re excited to continue our partnership with Archewell Productions and to entertain our members together.”
It was previously thought that the Sussexes’ £74million deal with the streamer was not going to be renewed.
Harry’s vanity project, Polo, about the sport, was watched by just 500,000 people.
But it was also understood that bosses were mildly infuriated by Meghan making her As Ever brand a priority.
The With Love, Meghan viewing figures have reportedly been “dismal”.
Lifestyle and cookery show With Love, Meghan only ranked at number 383 in Netflix’s six-monthly engagement report this year, with just 5.3million viewers across the globe.
Described by one critic as an “exercise in narcissism”, it was beaten by reruns of the first four seasons of legal drama Suits, which also starred the Duchess in her pre-royal days.
Once judged by some as Britain’s greatest soft power asset since Princess Diana, Meghan was filmed for her show making ladybird-shaped canapes from cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls.
In truth, the show is a smash hit compared to her husband’s vanity docuseries Polo, blasted as “a dull indulgence about a rich person’s pursuit”.
In the first six months of the year the programme attracted a disastrous 500,000 views globally, ranking it at number 3,442 out of around 7,000 shows.
The Duchess of Sussex’s show previously featured husband Prince Harry and some celeb pals, including Mindy Kaling[/caption]
