Meghan Markle to Return to Australia as Junior MasterChef Special Guest
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, will return to Melbourne next year as a special guest on Australia's Junior MasterChef. Channel 10 has confirmed that she will join Poh Ling Yeow, runner-up in the first season of MasterChef Australia, to guide young cooks on the show.
The role is a short one. HELLO! reports that filming is likely to start next spring and take one to two weeks to complete. The magazine also says the work is temporary, so it does not mean a move. Junior MasterChef Australia has been off the air since 2020, when it finished after three seasons.
Earlier reports had suggested Meghan was relocating her family to Australia. HELLO! says the Sussexes are not moving there permanently. The family moved to the UK from California in August. The same magazine reports that Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet could join their mother on the Australian trip. That remains a possibility, and no household statement has confirmed it.
Meghan's first Australian television work came earlier this year. She filmed a guest appearance on MasterChef Australia during an April trip to the country with Prince Harry. Harry made a surprise FaceTime appearance in that episode while he was meeting veterans in Canberra. 10 Play lists Season 18, Episode 60 as the episode that features her joining the MasterChef kitchen. The broadcaster's listing also says she offered some of her favourite seasonal produce for the episode.
The April episode aired on the adult series, which has the same judges' table and kitchen format as the junior version. The junior show is aimed at young contestants, and the producers have not released a full cast list beyond the two names confirmed so far. Fans who want to watch the new series will have to wait until next year.
For now, the facts are simple. Meghan will return to Melbourne for a brief filming stint next spring, working with Poh Ling Yeow on Junior MasterChef. She will not be settling in Australia, according to HELLO!, and the Sussex family's base remains in the UK.
