Eight members of Meghan Markle's TV crew deny claims of 'toxic behaviour' made against the Duchess of Sussex
9 March 2025, 13:13
TV crew members on 'With Love, Meghan' have rejected claims of 'toxic behaviour' made against Meghan Markle.
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Pushing back on alleged allegations that Meghan Markle is difficult to work with, Michael Steed - a member of the 'With Love, Meghan' TV crew - said the Duchess of Sussex was "friendly" and created a "comfortable environment".
Mr Steed, who has also worked on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, told PEOPLE: "It was unexpected, but I embraced it ... it was a lot of fun.
"I was always going to be the point of conversation, so she had someone to talk to at all times and make it more conversational and comfortable. But it certainly evolved to where the cameras turned towards me."
Describing Meghan as "totally L.A., California through and through", he added: "Her relationship with the crew became really tight fairly quickly. She has an understanding of what it means to be on set and she connected with the crew more than anyone".
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Another crew member told PEOPLE that Meghan created an 'inclusive' environment: "Most of the time, we're expected to fade into the background, to be invisible. But in this show, we were part of it. We were included. It was a very unique and refreshing experience".
The praise Meghan has received contrasts some of the allegations she has recently faced. In a Vanity Fair article published in February, sources claimed she could be "really, really awful" to work with.
Sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said the couple found such claims "distressing".
Despite receiving criticism, the second season of 'With Love, Meghan' has already finished filming and will air this autumn.
Breaking the news, Meghan posted on her Instagram stories with a video of her wearing a hat with the writing "lettuce romaine calm" on and grinning, then turning and putting her hands in the air.
The caption on the Instagram story said: "Lettuce romaine calm... or not (!) because I'm thrilled to share that Season 2 of 'With Love, Meghan' is coming!"
The story was shortly followed by a post on her Instagram with a reel with clips of her cooking and the caption: "Oh, how I love ASMR!
"If you're loving Season 1, just wait until you see the fun we cooked up on Season 2!
"Thanks for joining the party, and an endless thanks to the amazing team and crew who helped bring it all to life! @netflix"
Arriving on Netflix at 8am on Tuesday, the series aims to showcase a new side to the Duchess of Sussex - one that's led her to be labelled a "tradwife" in recent weeks - a term given to a woman who to adheres to traditional gender roles.
Acting as a marketing arm for her lifestyle brand 'As Ever' - formerly known as American Riviera Orchard, the show features the Duchess of Sussex cooking, gardening and beekeeping.
It also features guest appearances from a series of celeb pals and gurus.
Describing the activities as an outlet for her "creativity", the actress-turned-homemaker announces early on that they are pastimes she's sorely missed.
It comes as the Duchess of Sussex insisted she is not an "influencer" despite the marketing tactics surrounding her lifestyle brand.
In one bizarre moment, Meghan gets flustered and tells her guest Alice Waters "I feel like you're watching me fall in love" as she eats a turnip.
In another, she can be seen to declare that "even people with small houses can enjoy domestic bliss like me".
The show also showcases Markle flexing her beekeeping skills, with the Duchess of Sussex voicing her fears over being stung while describing it as being "beautiful to be this connected".
She adds: "It's like also that reminder to do something that scares you a little bit. I think that's part of it, but I'm trying to stay in the calm of it because it's beautiful to be this connected."
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Meghan began a soft launch of her newly rebranded lifestyle range in April last year, sending celebrity friends jars of her homemade strawberry jam numbered up to 50, with the first going to her mother.
Episode one, entitled 'Hey, Honey!", sees Meghan prepare what she labels a "thoughtful guest basket".
Another episode sees her described how she picks fruit from the vines "daily" during harvesting season.
The actress' friend, comedian Mindy Kaling, then makes an appearance, revealing the numbers on the jars caused some friction: "It was not a ranking, it was just 'let me share them' and then people started to take it very personally."
Kaling then asks Meghan how to season eggs, with the duchess revealing that Harry douses his food in salt without tasting it.
Meghan says: "Well I have a family, a husband, who no matter what meal is put in front of him, before he tastes it puts salt on, so I try to under salt."
It comes as some royal sources suggested the venture could be the 'last roll of the dice' following a string of flops, with the Dutchess looking to salvage her and Prince Harry's $100million streaming deal.
Ahead of the series airing, the Duchess of Sussex came under fire for setting the 'at home' show at a Californian farmhouse, rather than her own $14 million (£11 million) Montecito mansion.
It forced the production to acknowledge this early on, countering accusations surrounding the show's authenticity.
“People watching this at home might think, ‘Hey I don’t have this space at home!’” she said to chef Alice Waters, a figure widely considered to be a pioneer of farm-to-table cooking.
“But this is the value I think of what you’ve done, urban farming. Even if you’re just in a little flat in London or small apartment in the city, what people can do to make them feel that they have some small piece of this.”
In another, Meghan describes how one of her favourite things to do when people come to stay is "prep the guest room".
"I think about the two places of a guest experience once they've gone into their room. What's at the side of the bed for them?" she explains.
She then adds it makes her think about the guests' "good morning and night moment".
In episode seven, Meghan discusses the Japanese art of Kintsugi - or repairing broken pottery, with Vicky Tsai, using the practice as an analogy for 'healing'.
"I think it's so meaningful, that if you break something that is precious and valuable, it's not broken," Meghan says.
"That that fracture, and you taught me this, that that fracture actually makes it more beautiful, that break makes it more beautiful."
