Meghan confirmed as special guest co-host on Junior MasterChef Australia

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been confirmed as a co-host of the 2027 series of Junior MasterChef Australia, the BBC reports. Australia’s Channel 10 said she would appear as a “special guest” alongside fellow host Poh Ling Yeow. Sky News also reported Meghan’s reaction that she “can’t wait” to join the programme.

Meghan said she enjoyed cooking with her own children and that seeing the young contestants create dishes in the kitchen would be fun. The supplied reports do not specify how many episodes she will host or when filming will take place. The announcement follows her appearance as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia last year.

Paramount ANZ said that episode attracted the programme’s largest Sunday audience since 2023. The BBC reported that Meghan was not understood to have been paid for that earlier appearance. Network 10 did not answer the BBC’s question about whether she would be paid for co-hosting the Junior MasterChef season.

Meghan’s return to Australia follows a four-day visit with Prince Harry in April. During that trip, her MasterChef appearance was announced, and she was later revealed to have been filming an episode while absent from public-facing engagements. The new television role comes amid wider scrutiny of Meghan’s media and business work.

Her lifestyle and cookery programme, With Love, Meghan, ran for two series and a Christmas special on Netflix, but the BBC reported that it did not perform well with audiences. The Sussexes also announced in August that they were moving back to the United Kingdom. They stepped back from royal duties in early 2020 after leaving the UK and later settled in California in March of that year.

Their subsequent media work included a high-profile interview with Oprah Winfrey and agreements with Netflix and Spotify. The BBC reported that Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever, includes a food range and that its partnership with Netflix ended in March. Last year, her trademark was registered in more than a dozen product categories in Australia, including cookware and table linen.

The supplied reports do not say whether any of those products will feature in the Junior MasterChef programme. The announcement also coincides with allegations concerning Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle. The BBC said he has been accused of child sexual abuse, which he denies, and reported that Meghan broke contact with him last year after telling him that she and authorities knew he had abused young girls.

Markle has rejected the accusations as lies. The immediate confirmed development is Meghan’s planned participation in the 2027 Junior MasterChef Australia series. Her exact duties, schedule and remuneration have not been disclosed.