In an unexpected twist, Meghan Markle has clinched a Daytime Emmy nomination for her canceled Netflix cooking show, a noteworthy contrast to her turning down an award ceremony invitation eight years prior.
Back in March 2025, the Duchess of Sussex, now 41, debuted the first season of “With Love, Meghan” on Netflix, coinciding with the launch of her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
The initial success prompted a second season and a special holiday edition, where the Duchess offered a glimpse of her home life with hosting advice and cooking tips from a luxurious £5 million estate close to her and Prince Harry’s Montecito residence.
Despite the ambitious production, critics and audiences didn’t warm up to the series, which struggled to reach even the top 1,000 on Netflix’s most-watched list, as per the platform’s ratings.
Nevertheless, against all odds, the series earned a nod for outstanding lifestyle programming, even though it was shelved in January 2026, as declared today.
With Love, Meghan will compete with NBC’s heartwarming home makeover show, George to the Rescue, hosted by George Oliphant, which has an 8.8/10 rating on IMDB and Hallmark’s The Motherhood, presented by Connie Britton.
Meghan’s Emmy nomination comes nearly eight years after the Duchess declined an invitation to attend the ceremony in Los Angeles, California, shortly after marrying into the Royal Family.
The former Suits actress’s decision was a ‘line in the sand’ between her acting career and new life as a royal at the time, sources claimed, but the Duchess is rumoured to be eyeing a Hollywood comeback after Megxit in 2020.
The Duchess of Sussex has earned a surprise Daytime Emmy nomination for her axed Netflix series, With Love, Meghan
At the time, a source told The Sun: ‘Show executives and NBC had offered Harry and her an invitation to celebrate with the biggest stars around, meet her showbiz friends and even present an honour.’
‘We had hoped Meghan would attend as a way of saying goodbye to her Suits fans and colleagues.’
While Meghan had been put forward for an Emmy for her role as paralegal Rachel Zane for her final season on the American drama Suits, she never ended up being nominated.
Eight years on, Meghan is in the running for a Daytime Emmy for her Netflix series that featured guest appearances from Mindy Kaling, Tan France and Chrissy Teigen over the course of two seasons.
The show was produced as a part of Meghan and Harry’s contract with Netflix, estimated to be worth over $100million (£74million), after they stepped down as senior working royals in 2020.
With Love, Meghan’s second season was the 1,124th most-watched show between July and December 2025, with two million views, according to data released by Netflix.
In January, the streaming giant axed the show after the ‘tectonically tacky’ Christmas special was blasted by critics.
Giving ‘With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration’ zero stars out of five, the Daily Mail’s reviewer Annabel Fenwick Elliott called the show ‘unlikeable.’
She wrote: ‘It’s the syrupy hypocrisy and our hostess’s deep lack of self-awareness that continue to make her and this show so unlikeable.
‘If only she could lean into her waspish, Type A personality – poke a little fun at herself, even – she could just about be endearing, in a Monica-from-Friends sort of way.’
In March, Meghan split from Netflix and took complete control of her As Ever food and homeware brand, as insiders said the Duchess felt Netflix was being too ‘cautious’ and wanted to ‘go global’.
The Duchess of Sussex made a shock appearance on MasterChef Australia and her episode will be broadcast later this month, She is pictured with fellow judges Poh Ling Yeow, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Sofia Levin
The royal couple signed a new first-look deal with Netflix last year, giving the streaming giant first option on projects by the Sussexes’ Archewell Productions.
In May, it was announced that the production company would produce a war film for the streaming giant based on an Afghanistan memoir.
US outlet Deadline said the film will tell the story of Easy Company, a unit of Paras and Royal Irish Rangers tasked with holding a district in Helmand Province in July 2006, and who came under attack from the Taliban.
The film, called No Way Out: The Searing True Story Of Men Under Siege, is based on the memoir by Major Adam Jowett, who led the unit.
It comes as Meghan’s stint on MasterChef Australia is set to be broadcast later this month, with chefs challenged to create a dish fit for a Duchess.
The former actress filmed the slot when she visited Australia with husband Prince Harry during their pseudo-royal tour three months ago.
She has said her love of good food and Australia were the two reasons she chose to be a guest judge on the country’s biggest TV show.
The Duchess, 44, a keen cook and founder of the As Ever lifestyle brand, left Harry flying solo when she spent a day filming a segment at MasterChef Australia’s Melbourne set for the latest series of the cooking competition.
Her involvement was revealed hours later when Channel Ten released a promo video showing Meghan striding onto the MasterChef set in a chic black outfit to meet Poh Ling Yeow and fellow judges Jean-Christophe Novelli and Sofia Levin.
Today it was revealed the episode will be broadcast on Sunday, July 26, at 7pm on Channel 10, with Mediaweek reporting: ‘Meghan will ask the contestants to create a dish fit for a Duchess.’
The Duchess of Sussex, who was claimed to have been ‘very frustrated’ when co-stars called her ‘royalty’ on camera, is said to set a challenge using seasonal ingredients including Brussels sprouts, celeriac and Australia’s famous macadamia nuts.
Quince, lemons, apples, mandarins and strawberries were also available to chefs, along with Australian honey to sweeten the dishes – rather than her own As Ever-branded honey.
‘What attracted me to the MasterChef Australia kitchen? Two things: my love of food and my love of Australia. It was an easy yes,’ Meghan said in a press release announcing the broadcast date.