A few months ago, frequent Netflix collaborator (and pal of Meghan Markle) Tan France appeared on her lifestyle show With Love, Meghan. He did it to support the woman he jokes he’s in a “textual relationship” with, but as a British-American, France does understand the criticism the actress and entrepreneur has faced.
He was asked about popping up on With Love, Meghan recently by Vanessa Feltz, who questioned how the reality star got involved in the show, and asked if he knew about the “tumultuous criticism” the series faced back in the UK. With the former, France explained he’d been asked to film two days and go to the beach. He learned from Markle, and also taught her how to make his “mother-in-law’s french toast,” which he seemed to have a good time doing.
However, when it comes to the latter bit, France is well aware, telling the CH5 Show his theory.
Being from the UK but living in the US, I’ve been there 20 years and I was here for 23 years, I think I understand both equally well. It was never gonna be for the Brits. The Brits are too cynical. They don’t care about the whimsy! They’re too busy getting on with real life. Life’s hard in England! They haven’t got time to make a charcuterie board.
France went on to defend the streamer adding With Love, Meghan to the Netflix schedule, calling the premise “very American” and “very Hamptons.” I would like to remind France that most Americans also don’t live on a beachy, bougie, playground, but I do think his idea that in theory the show could have worked in the US is not that unsound if the content had been super engaging. That’s not what happened, though.
The show briefly peaked on the Netflix charts thanks to the curiosity factor, but a lot of people who tried the first episode didn’t stick around. By the end of its first week, the show was already in 10th place and only landed at #383 for the year among total views. Despite this, Netflix inexplicably gave it a second season, which reportedly did even worse in the ratings.
There’s been a lot of discourse about Meghan Markle and Netflix over the last several months. What started as a match made in royal heaven seemingly turned as sour as Markle and co. kept putting out content that didn’t really resonate with viewers. Then, in March, Netflix stepped away from its deal with her lifestyle brand As Ever, and reports indicated at the time “the mood in the building is, ‘we’re done.’” A Netflix insider has refuted this, though, saying working on As Ever was only ever a "side hustle," so it's not weird this venture went by the wayside.
In short, though, it's clear what Netflix and Markle were trying to do wasn't fully working, and Netflix allegedly spent millions on a deal that never saw returns. What's unclear is what she'll do next. There's been some conversation about her returning to acting, with an insider saying there's Hollywood "interest" in the prospect. It's too bad Queer Eye ended after years of heartwarming episodes on Netflix, because I feel like the "textual" pals could have maybe done some fun work together there.
