Meghan back on Instagram

[PrettyFlyforaMaiTai]

Looks like she’s back on Instagram

www.instagram.com/meghan/reel/DESeJO5vFSN/

It's boring and forgotten in no time.

“Over the past year, people on this forum gave out loads of marketing and PR advice. I hope Meghan's PR interns appreciate the help.”

Couldn’t agree more, Bemused. Especially Spanakopita, whose knowledge is next-level impressive. I’d even say she “elevates”, if I dared…

Lots of people will like this! I'd give it a watch. This is what Meghan is really good at - being beautiful and charming on TV. Fair play to her stepping up to put food on the table with a legitimate job.

Where she fell out with a lot of the British public is that she didn't realise that this isn't quite the role of a working royal. Like, it very nearly is, but you have to pretend to have zero ego, and you have to pretend not to be the star of the show. I do understand how capitalising on the title still irritates some people.

TBF it seems harmless.

Because I'm interested in watching famous people, not privileged randoms.

Probably because the people who will watch the show won't be interested in unknown pseudo celebs. Any cooking show I can think of where they use guests, the guests are all either very well known (think Julian a Margoyles or Stanley Tucci with Ina Garten, or Andy Murray, Emeli Sande or the Prince and Princess of Wales 😁 with Mary Berry) or other chefs - Nigella and Alistair Little with Nigel Slater, or completely unknown but with lovely food stories - Nigel does this, and Nadiya Hussain. Not some Z list, air kissing, hair tossing sleb 'friend' who no-one's ever heard of and who probably either employs a chef at home or lives on lettuce leaves and fresh air.

I don't think this is a 'legitimate job' which is 'putting food on the table'. It's part of the fulfillment of a NF contract signed over 4 years ago, to which she has contributed almost nothing other than a 'documentary' whining about her brief royal life.

It remains to be seen whether 'lots of people will like this'. To me it seems like a cringe fest. She has no relevant experience and her 'friends' are not interesting or famous enough to attract interest for themselves. It will likely get some initial curiosity interest but I don't see too many people putting themselves through 8 episodes of rich people pretending to cook in someone's pretend home in California. And as others have said, the timing is off.

She's a TV personality making a TV show. Seems pretty legit to me!

Honestly - loads of people like calm, easy, aesthetically pleasing brainrot to look at in the evenings. It's kind of why Instagram exists.

If the recipe is 'in cider' I will definitely watch.

calm, easy, aesthetically pleasing brainrot

Please tell me this is the official promotional slogan for this programme.

@Spectre8 Oh, I see. You are preemptively checking whether people are qualified to critique your idol.

Just have a logic check on that. You are only going to allow critiques on the show from people who watched all of it. Thus limiting you to the small pool of people who watch the whole thing to talk to. That’s the very definition on an echo chamber. Perhaps this is why the die hards on here seem so detached from reality.

Remember that the victory Meghan seeks is a groundswell of public adoration, money and success. Which doesn’t come from the same tiny band of fans driving away anyone who might engage with the content.

I would take posters like this seriously if they could admit any wrong doing at all on the part of the Sussexes. But that would involve engaging with reality.

But she isn't a 'TV personality'. She was an actress in a cable TV show whose role ended over 7 years ago. She's done very little on TV since then, other than slag off her husband's family. She's basically known for being married to the 5th in line to the British throne.

And yes, there is a market for easy viewing, but I'm not sure Meghan is the one to host it. She hasn't exactly exuded positive energy these past 5 years. Also, January really is not the time for this kind of programming. But I guess we'll see.

And “angry, hard work, shit interface brainrot” for Mumsnet. (With love, pelargoniums)

You don't seem happy. Never mind. You've got some lovely telly to look forward to watching.

Can you even begin to imagine the backlash she would get on here and elsewhere if she did anything remotely like that. She can barely set foot outside her house without being maligned. She would be trashed unmercifully if she dared to talk to the 'less wealthy' (your words, not mine!)

Angel Strawbridge already did the vintage tea cup aesthetic but maybe it’s new to the US.

It’s not my sort of thing but I wish her well with it. She needs to stick to it though and not give up half way through.

Re chefs using their own kitchens - years ago there was a tv chef program and people were raving about the kitchen. It was a great kitchen. The hired my friend’s amazing kitchen 😂 outing obviously so can’t say the chef’s name! Never believed a thing about tv after.

The official Netflix trailer blurb is:

'This inspiring series, produced by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, reimagines the genre of lifestyle programming, blending practical how-to’s and candid conversation with friends, new and old. Meghan shares personal tips and tricks, embracing playfulness over perfection and highlights how easy it can be to create beauty, even in the unexpected. She and her guests roll up their sleeves in the kitchen, the garden, and beyond, and invite you to do the same.'

I'm suppose I shouldn't be too surprised at the errant apostrophe, but it does look naff.

Meghan is very polished and professional but, unlike Nigella or Nadiya, she's not warm. I find her quite stiff and actor-y most of the time.

I might watch the first episode of this but the rich Californian aesthetic doesn't appeal and the food isn't very interesting. Although perhaps to American eyes, a Victoria Sponge seems exciting and new?

Nigella has done only one series in her kitchen but the majority is done in a dressed up set in a warehouse five miles from her house. This is not unusual

Your friend must have a wow kitchen! (eyeing my untidy work surfaces and a hob that needs cleaning 😅)

She isnt my idol but then again just be cause I don't come here and say nasty things about her you automatically assume that.

And that poster wasn't criticising Meghan but taking something she had seen on X thay wasn't true and spreading it. Do you think that is criticism? Do you think thats okay to come here and say look she copied someone else when she hasn't and that is fair? Or do you think Outwell ots okay to just have a dig at someone even if it's not true?

She isnt my idol but then again just be cause I don't come here and say nasty things about her you automatically assume that

It's very strange, there is no gray area @Spectre8 . If you don't ridicule or trash her you are labelled as a super fan or she's your idol. A person can find her faintly annoying, neither like or dislike, but also think she doesn't deserve hundreds of posts trashing her...that doesn't make her my idol. Gray area it is, everyone has to loathe her, them's the rules! Apparently.

Well, how does anyone get to be a TV personality other than being famous for something, then being on TV? There's loads of people making a decent living as "personalities" from Love Island beginnings!

She has a background in TV. She's beautiful and she presents well to camera. I'm not sure what more qualifications someone needs for a lifestyle programme. I mean, it's vacuous nonsense, but no more so than most TV drivel.

Is basically Saturday Kitchen, no?

I actually think that her Grenfell cookbook was a great idea

It wasn’t ’her idea’ - the Hubb Community Kitchen had come together spontaneously (local women cooking for other locals in need) and they themselves had realised that a book was a good way to capture their spirit and to fundraise

To do the latter, a high profile champion was needed, and that was the Duchess (in the very early days of her time in the RF). It was not her idea, nor did she create it, but the foreword she wrote shone a light on what was happening. Which is undoubtedly a good thing. But it was neither her idea nor her creation, so I don’t think she could carry it forwards (especially not as it grew out of a disaster)