The Duchess of Sussex was a “huge fan” of The Real Housewives franchise but her bid to appear on the producer’s show was seemingly snubbed.
In their first interaction, Meghan takes a “trip down memory lane”, reminding Andy that this is not their first meeting. She explained that she was a “huge fan” of the show and had actually met him twice before sitting down to record the podcast — first at a Bravo event (before Meghan was a familiar-faced actress) and second in New York (when seasons 2 and 3 of Suits had aired).
While this particular anecdote came to the producer’s surprise, he did remember another time Meghan’s name had been brought up in conversation — when the Duchess made a bid to appear on his talk show.
Meghan explained: “I was so eager to be on your show because I was such a Housewives fan at the time and I just couldn’t get booked, Andy!”
Meghan was ‘eager’ to be on Andy Cohen’s talk show (Image: Getty Images)
Andy is the executive producer for The Real Housewives franchise (Image: Getty)
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The TV personality replied: “You know what’s so funny? I had that feeling. Basically, we started to kind of forensically figure out it was you because we had a sense.”
He explained that having come to the realisation that Meghan had once tried to get booked on the show, he and the other producers recognised their mistake.
He recalled: “We kind of put it together a little,” and paraphrasing his colleagues, he said: “‘I think she may be a Housewives fan, but even worse, Andy, we think we didn’t have her on the show.’”
He continued: “And I was like: ‘Oh my God! If it turns out that Meghan Markle actually expressed an interest to be on Watch What Happens Live…’ It is now the biggest blunder in the 13 years of the show.”
Meghan reassured him, saying: “I think you’re doing just fine,” to which Andy responded: “It’s a great story.”
The Duchess of Sussex was a successful actress before entering the Royal Family (Image: Getty)
He added: “And now I can’t even do my pitch to try to get you on Watch What Happens Live because you’d just own me completely.”
The Duchess replied: “Nope. Well, we started here. It’s great. So now we’ve started. Now you’re here with me, which is amazing.”
Later in the episode, Andy insisted Meghan was welcome to appear on the show, an offer that Meghan neither accepted nor denied.
While Meghan was once a fan of the show, she later admitted that she had stopped watching years ago, explaining that once her own life was filled with drama, she didn’t want to see it on her TV screen.
When Andy said: “I guess the million dollar question is, do you still watch The Housewives? This is what we’ve been dying to know,” Meghan responded: “Well, I will tell you the truth. I stopped watching The Housewives when my life had its own level of drama that I stopped craving [it].” 
She continued: “I get why it was such a huge, huge part of pop culture. And when it began, because you began with Orange County and I’m from California, at least it felt remotely like a world that I knew but still felt so foreign…
“I would say almost every one of my friends still watches it and I go, ‘Why are you watching that?’ There’s so much drama. And it’s because it brings entertainment. It’s entertaining to them. And it’s also, I think, so familiar because it’s been on for so long. You’ve created an empire.”
Meghan has often spoken about her love for television, confessing some of her favourite shows and films in past interviews and podcast episodes.
Earlier this month, in an Archetypes episode which broke down the word ‘b*tch’, the Duchess opened up about her “love of words, etymology, grammar [and] admiring people with expansive vocabularies,” revealing that there was a particular TV show she was obsessed with growing up.
Meghan revealed her passion for words and etymology (Image: Getty)
The Duchess said: “At this point in the series, I think we’ve established that I spent a lot of time in front of the TV growing up. I loved movies and shows. I had my favourite programs. And, as we continue to unearth — with Archetypes — many of them can be influenced by pop culture and by the media.
“Growing up in the Eighties and Nineties, my generation, we were raised with television in the same way that this generation is raised with social media. But we didn’t have that then — there was no Instagram or TikTok. You couldn’t even record shows unless you had a blank VHS tape that you could race to queue up at the exact time so you’d hope not to miss your favourite show.
“For Gen Z listeners, you’re going to have to Google or I guess TikTok what I’m even talking about. But for those of you who remember these days, you’ll also remember the shows that you were always ready for. Now, for me, this was Jeopardy!”
She continued: “Jeopardy was my favourite show growing up, and I would eat my dinner on a TV tray in front of the screen, watching each category and clue with bated breath and intense focus, trying to absorb whatever facts they were firing off in the form of a question.
“My obsession with this show was so deep. You guys, when Alex Trebek passed away, I started to receive texts of condolence. I didn’t know him, but everyone who knew me knew how meaningful Jeopardy — and its host — were as a daily part of my life. This love of facts extended into my love of words, etymology, grammar [and] admiring people with expansive vocabularies. I was, and I still am, a word nerd.”
Meghan watched Jeopardy with ‘bated breath and intense focus’ (Image: Getty)
A voice behind the camera asked Meghan what she and Prince Harry have been watching together. The royal responded: “Once we’ve gotten the kids to bed, and I’ve played a little Wordle, or done my 10 minutes of Duolingo…After those two things, if we do turn on the TV, which is fairly rare, I think we’re like most people, where you just do endless searching until you get tired of searching, you don’t watch anything!”
The Duchess then cited The White Lotus, an American comedy-drama anthology series, as one of the “incredible shows on at the moment” that exemplifies “great storytelling”.
Meghan has also confessed to loving Bill Nye The Science Guy, Mad Men and Girls at various points throughout her life.
Source: EXPRESS CO UK
