Meghan Markle is said to have some pretty famous friends — Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner, Serena Williams and Ellen DeGeneres. She’s also recently enjoyed some positive public interactions with Gwyneth Paltrow, another celebrity lifestyle influencer from Montecito.
But none of those A-listers is lined up to be a guest on Season 2 of her Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan,” according to a trailer for the show that dropped this week. Mindy Kaling, the only Hollywood star on Season 1, isn’t expected to return when the new season premieres Aug. 26.
This image released by Netflix shows Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a scene from “With Love, Meghan.” (Netflix via AP)
Instead, the best known celebrity to join Meghan in the kitchen will be Chrissy Teigen, the former model and “queen of Twitter” who once enjoyed a career as a popular cookbook author and seemingly ubiquitous media personality. That is until 2021, when the wife of John Legend suffered “one of greatest meltdowns in American celebrity” after she was forced to acknowledge that she had once been an aggressive cyberbully.
Teigen has never really recovered from her fall from grace, and it’s hard to imagine that many people are clamoring to see her try to be fun and relatable in Meghan’s kitchen — or the borrowed Montecito kitchen that stands in for Meghan’s own.
“Chrissy Teigen isn’t popular anymore,” a Hollywood insider told the Daily Mail. The guest list is “very underwhelming” in other ways, the insider added. “It’s really down to Meghan to get the stars,” the insider said. “Where is Oprah, Michelle Obama or a Kardashian, even? It is just a bunch of random people she knows.”
With Love, Meghan. (L to R) Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Alice Waters in episode 108 of With Love, Meghan. Cr. Jenna Peffley/Netflix © 2025
Teigen’s cyberbullying scandal makes her a problematic guest for Meghan in several ways. First, the American Duchess of Sussex has faced bullying allegations herself, stemming from her reported mistreatment of palace aides during her 20 months as a working member of the British royal family. Those workplace bullying allegations followed her after she and Prince Harry moved to California in 2020, and the couple tried to launch careers as media moguls and globe-trotting humanitarians.
The Teigen association also has raised questions about Meghan and Harry’s dedication to promoting online safety, given that the Sports Illustrated model was forced to apologize for sending direct messages to media personality Courtney Stodden in 2011, telling the then-16-year-old media personality to commit suicide. Teigen also was accused sending bullying messages to fashion designer Michael Costello and TV personality Farrah Abraham, though Teigen denied sending the messages to Costello.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 02: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (L-R) Chrissy Teigen and John Legend attend the 67th GRAMMY Awards on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Prior to the scandal, Teigen became famous on social media for being brash, salty-tongued and sometimes controversial, especially when she got political and spoke out against Donald Trump and his MAGA beliefs in his first term as president. Following the bullying controversy, she was labeled “toxic” and lost deals with such major retailers as Bloomingdales and Macy’s to sell her “Cravings by Chrissy” cookware line.
Meanwhile, Meghan’s other scheduled guests for her show may be more useful in lending her gravitas, especially when it comes to cooking and other Sussex endeavors. They include a selection of chefs, notably Oakland cookbook author Samin Nosrat and Jose Andres. The latter is the founder of World Central Kitchen, who has became renowned for delivering food to people affected by war and humanitarian crises in Ukraine and Gaza. Andres is said to be friends with Meghan and Harry, and World Central Kitchen received a $300,000 grant in 2021 from the couple’s Archewell Foundation.
Other scheduled guests include “Queer Eye” star Tan France, Meghan’s make-up artist friend Daniel Martin and her pilates instructor Heather Dorak, the Daily Mail also reported.
The trailer for Season 2 of “With Love, Meghan” was released after it was confirmed this week that Netflix wouldn’t renew its five-year, reported $100 million production deal with Meghan and Harry. The Sussexes tried to put a positive spin on the news by saying that Netflix was “extending” its partnership with them to support her As Ever lifestyle brand and other unspecified streaming projects.
But actually, the Sussexes have been given a “first-look” agreement with Netflix, according to Daily Mail columnist Richard Eden. That means they are not being paid a lucrative set amount, whether they deliver any programming or not. With a “first-look” agreement, they can pitch ideas to Netflix, and the streamer has the option — but no obligation — to commission the project. They also won’t be paid unless Netflix agrees to commission any project.