Meghan counts down ahead of premiere of second series of Netflix cooking show after first series savaged by critics
Meghan has teased the premiere of the second series of her Netflix cooking show ahead of Tuesday’s premiere - after the first series was blasted by critics.
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The Duchess of Sussex also teased eager fans with a restock of her ‘As Ever’ lifestyle brand in a series of Instagram posts.
Meghan shared a countdown titled ‘As Ever Restock’, set to end at 9pm local time (5pm BST) on Monday in an update on the social media network.
“At As ever, we keep growing and growing,” she captioned a new post teasing the products. “Your favorites (and more) are back tomorrow as we also celebrate the launch of Season 2 of 'With Love, Meghan' on Netflix".
Read more: ‘Take your finger out of my face’: Meghan's heated ‘showdown’ with Prince William after Kate comment
Read more: Release date and guests revealed for second season of Meghan’s lifestyle show
“August 26th, mark your calendars,” she added.
The caption came alongside a picture of the Duchess of Sussex watering some plants, dressed in jeans and a white button-up shirt.
It comes after the first season of her lifestyle show was scalded by critics and viewers.
One review in The Guardian described it as a "gormless lifestyle filler" and "so pointless it might be the Sussexes' last TV show".
The series has a 3.2 rating out of 10 on IMDb, and a meagre 38% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score on the same website sits even lower, at 32%.
But Meghan has been busily promoting the new season of her lifestyle cooking show, which is part of a lucrative deal with streaming giant Netflix - though less lucrative than the Sussexes’ previous deal.
Harry and Meghan announced the "multi-year, first-look deal for film and television projects" earlier this month, in contrast to their reported 100 million dollar (£74 million) contract five years ago.
PR and crisis expert Mark Borkowski described it as a "downgrade", and suggested Netflix was "pivoting away" from Harry and Meghan.
Among the celebrity guests joining the former Suits star during the eight episodes will be US model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen and Queer Eye star Tan France, as well as podcaster Jay Shetty and his cookbook author wife Radhi Devlukia.
Also appearing will be chefs Samin Nosrat, Clare Smyth, Christina Tosi, Jose Andres and David Chang, and Meghan's close friends, pilates instructor Heather Dorak and make up artist Daniel Martin.
The trailer, to the soundtrack of Bobby Day's upbeat Rockin' Robin, showed Meghan cooking, baking and crafting with her celebrity friends and saying: "I love the idea of just spending time together ... and finding new ways to show people you care."
She adds while being shown wrapping a gift: "There are easy ways to show up, lovingly."
She also revealed her husband is not a fan of lobster, to which chef José Andrés said: "And you married him anyway?"
The deal includes a new documentary called 'Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within'.
Meghan said: "We're proud to extend our partnership with Netflix and expand our work together to include the As ever brand.
"My husband and I feel inspired by our partners who work closely with us and our Archewell Productions team to create thoughtful content across genres that resonates globally, and celebrates our shared vision."
Bela Bajaria, Netflix's chief content officer, said: "Harry and Meghan are influential voices whose stories resonate with audiences everywhere.
"The response to their work speaks for itself - Harry & Meghan gave viewers an intimate look into their lives and quickly became one of our most-watched documentary series.
"More recently, fans have been inspired by With Love, Meghan, with products from the new As ever line consistently selling out in record time."We're excited to continue our partnership with Archewell Productions and to entertain our members together."