Pamela Anderson breaks silence on Meghan Markle's 'rip off' show
The Baywatch star Anderson opened up on Sunday's Watch What Happens Live! - with host Andy Cohen asking her: 'On a scale from one to 10, how much of a rip-off did you feel like With Love, Meghan was of your show, Pamela's Cooking with Love?' Anderson, who was appearing alongside new love and co-star Liam Neeson responded: 'One. I didn't - I didn't really look, but I mean, I didn't invent cooking shows' adding that Markle 'is just doing her thing.'
The drama erupted when Prince Harry 's wife gave People magazine some of her top domestic tips ahead of the release of With Love, Meghan, in March. These included how to 'elevate' a normal dinner – such as after ordering a takeaway, for example. Citing Chinese as a favorite delivery option, Markle told the US magazine: 'I like being able to do a hybrid, but even when I get a takeout I will try to plate it beautifully.'
And discussing her new trademark As Ever – after she failed to secure copyright branding for her original name, American Riviera Orchard – she insisted: 'It's a learning curve. 'I appreciate everyone who gave me the grace to make mistakes and figure it out and also be forgiving with myself through that.'
The two former TV stars live more than a thousand miles apart, yet both were smiling and giggling in brightly lit country kitchens, filming aspirational cooking with photogenic friends and famous celebrities. Both are seen carrying wicker baskets of fruit and vegetables picked from their gardens, dancing with joy, and gleefully high-fiving their celebrity guests. Both series are even the same length: eight episodes.
When Meghan's first episode was shown, it prompted withering complaints that she had copied Pamela's winning formula. 'So similar it's freaky,' said one reviewer, while others branded Meghan's series 'inauthentic' and 'copycat'.
More charitable observers might put this down to coincidence, as neither show seems to deviate from the wholesome template of many an aspirational cookery program. However, while Markle filmed her series last summer, with the first trailer making its debut in January, Anderson's was commissioned back in February 2023 by Canadian broadcaster Flavour Network.
And its trailer has been available for all to see since last October. Last month it was claimed Markle and Prince Harry's hopes of a new Netflix deal are 'dead' after their two most recent shows flopped.
Meghan's lifestyle show failed to break into Netflix 's top 300 programs for the first half of 2025 and was even thrashed by multiple seasons of Suits. A second season of With Love, Meghan, was announced by the Duchess herself as the first season came out in March this year as part of the couple's $100million deal with the streaming giant, which expires this year.
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