Meghan Markle accused of copying in battle of lifestyle shows
The Duchess of Sussex has run into more trouble with her upcoming Netflix series – with fans calling it out for its similarities to another celebrity show.
Meghan Markle’s new eight-part series, With Love, Meghan, is finally due to drop on March 4, after an initial delay.
It will follow the California-based mother of two as she shares cooking, gardening and crafting tips with meaningful conversations with friends, including Mindy Kaling, Abigail Spencer, and her husband, Prince Harry.
But over the weekend, fans began to point out the striking similarities with Pamela Anderson’s own Food Network Canada series.
Called Pamela’s Cooking With Love, its trailer was released in October 2024 – months before Meghan returned to Instagram with the announcement of her own series in January.
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The Baywatch star’s trailer opens with clips of her in her garden, clad stylishly in denim and carrying a wicker basket. She’s also seen laughing in a rustic kitchen.
“I love to cook,” she says in the minute-long preview.
“I just have always wanted to take things to another level.”
Meghan, meanwhile, promised in her own trailer that she had “always loved taking something pretty ordinary and elevating it”.
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She strolls through her own garden, also stylishly dressed, and chats in her kitchen with guests.
Fans of the pair have hit social media to point out the similarities.
“If you watch the trailer for Pamela’s new show, it’s a more authentic version of what Meghan was trying to achieve and it looks as though Meghan has copied everything! The trailers are so similar it’s freaky,” one X user wrote.
“With Love, Meghan? And the whole elevate thing too. What a coincidence!” wrote another.
“Pamela is highlighting the people with talent that she is eager to learn from, Markle is high-jacking the talent of others and passing it off as all her own ideas! Netflix have just signed up to their very own Belle Gibson … oh the irony!,” a third said, referencing the fraudulent Australian cancer influence at the centre of another Netflix hit, Apple Cider Vinegar.
While a fourth suggested: “Maybe they’re using the same director?
Despite the possible similarities, Meghan’s show appears to have more of a focus on lifestyle and hosting, while Anderson’s interests appear to lean more to plant-based living and cooking.
“This inspiring series, produced by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, reimagines the genre of lifestyle programming, blending practical how-tos and candid conversation with friends, new and old,” the official synopsis says of With Love, Meghan.
“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.”
The controversy comes a week after Meghan revealed Netflix had partnered with her in the lifestyle brand As Ever. Renamed from the original American Riviera Orchard, it has filed patents for recipe books, tableware, textiles, and jams and marmalades.
