Meghan Markle has landed an unexpected Daytime Emmy nomination for her now-cancelled Netflix cooking and lifestyle series — a notable twist nearly eight years after she reportedly “politely declined” an invitation to the star-studded awards show.
The Duchess of Sussex debuted With Love, Meghan on Netflix in March 2025, timing the launch with the rollout of her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
The series later expanded with a second season and a festive Christmas special, featuring the mother-of-two sharing entertaining ideas, kitchen advice and hosting inspiration from a rented £5million mansion close to the Montecito home she shares with Prince Harry.
But the glossy Netflix project struggled to win over audiences and critics, with released viewing data showing it failed to make the platform’s top 1,000 most-watched titles.
Even so, With Love, Meghan — which was cancelled in January 2026 — has now been shortlisted in the outstanding lifestyle programme category, according to the nominations announced today.
The Duchess’s show will face competition from NBC’s uplifting renovation series George to the Rescue, fronted by George Oliphant and rated 8.8/10 on IMDb, as well as Hallmark’s The Motherhood, hosted by Connie Britton.
The Daytime Emmy nod arrives almost eight years after Meghan chose not to attend the Los Angeles ceremony following her marriage into the Royal Family.
At the time, insiders described the former Suits actress’s decision as a symbolic break from her Hollywood past as she settled into royal life. Since stepping back from royal duties with Prince Harry in 2020, however, Meghan has been widely linked to a renewed push into entertainment and lifestyle media.
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.
