Just days before Meghan Markle‘s new cooking series is set to premiere on Netflix, the Duchess of Sussex is facing backlash from critics accusing her of “copying” Pamela Anderson‘s Food Network Canada series, Pamela’s Cooking With Love.
The trailer for With Love, Meghan dropped in early January to much fanfare as fans were abuzz to see Markle returning to television. But critics online have since noticed that Markle’s trailer bears a “striking similarity” to the trailer for Anderson’s new cooking series, which dropped months earlier in October 2024.
“I love to cook. I just have always wanted to take things to another level,” Anderson says in the preview trailer as she carries produce from her garden.
Markle makes a similar remark in the trailer for With Love. “I’ve always loved taking something pretty ordinary and elevating it,” she says.
Both trailers show the celebrities cooking in rustic kitchens with friends and special guests, or hosting from the garden. While Markle’s Netflix series features a mix of celebrity guest stars and chefs, Anderson’s series highlights the work of eight chefs as they cook alongside each other.
Critics on social media railed against the Duchess of Sussex for “practically copying Pamela’s show,” as one viewer wrote on X. “She even copies the high five and jog.”
“Meghan Markle also plagiarized Pamela Anderson’s show? The entire concept is strikingly similar,” another X user commented.
Others said the trailer for Pamela’s Cooking With Love is “a more authentic version of what Meghan was trying to achieve & it looks as though Meghan has copied everything! The trailers are so similar it’s freaky.”
Despite the visual similarities – which feel reminiscent of many classic lifestyle and cooking series – Markle’s series offers tips on “cooking, gardening, and hosting.” Many longtime fans of the former actress note With Love, Meghan is a natural continuation of her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig, where she regularly shared cooking content throughout her acting career.
Fans will get to see for themselves how the series stack up against each other.
Markle pushed back the premiere date of her Netflix series to March 4 to focus on aiding those impacted by the L.A. wildfires, while Anderson’s Food Network series will be premiering first on Feb. 24.