So what COULD Meghan do next? As the Sussexes contemplate the potential end of their £80m Netflix deal, industry insiders reveal how the Duchess can keep the cash rolling in…
It was launched to distinctly mixed reviews this week but, miraculously, a second series of With Love, Meghan is set to be released by Netflix, it was announced last night.
The news has shocked critics and TV pundits alike, with agent Jon Roseman, who has spent more than 35 years looking after stars including Kate Garraway and Anne Diamond, declaring: ‘This is absurd.
‘There must be desperation involved if Meghan has got something so wrong, and all the critics hate it, and then Netflix announces: “We have done another series.”
‘I’m guessing a lot of pressure has come to bear. It makes perfect sense, though, when you find out that the second series was already filmed.
Netflix has already paid for it so there’s nothing to lose by putting it out. And the speed of the announcement means that it all happens before the Sussexes’ £80 million deal comes to an end.’
Should the second series be her last, insiders say she will have to find new ways to fund her lavish lifestyle.
We asked a panel of experts – from TV executives and PR advisers to political commentators and influencers – to suggest what Meghan could do next…
Could Meghan still have a future as a TV lifestyle guru? Perhaps, but not without some fundamental changes, says Dianne Nelmes, the former head of ITV Daytime, who launched This Morning.
‘With Love has a major flaw,’ she says. ‘The concept is outdated. Today young women look to TikTok, YouTube and social media for their lifestyle gurus and celebrity tips.
‘Meghan is so far removed from the reality of the women viewers who her show is targeting that I wonder what creative thinking went into the early development.
‘It echoes the Martha Stewart show that revolutionised lifestyle programming in the 1990s. But while Martha Stewart has a down-to-earth energy, Meghan exudes privilege and a nauseating condescension.
‘When I launched This Morning in 1988, we were determined it would be relevant. Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan were the perfect presenting team: an ordinary couple on their second marriages, with four children, who understood the lives of their viewers.
