Meghan to join Junior MasterChef Australia for 2027

The Duchess of Sussex will co-host the 2027 season of Junior MasterChef Australia.

Channel 10 announced that Meghan will appear as a special guest alongside permanent host Poh Ling Yeow. The decision follows her appearance as a guest judge on the adult version of the show in 2025. According to Paramount ANZ, that episode drew the program's largest Sunday audience since 2023.

Meghan said she can wait to join the kitchen. In a statement, she noted that she loves cooking with her own children. She added that watching young contestants create dishes would be a lot of fun.

The casting comes during a period of personal scrutiny for the Duchess. Her father, Thomas Markle, faces accusations of child sexual abuse. Markle denies the claims, calling them lies intended to destroy his reputation. The BBC reports that Meghan cut off contact with him last year. She told him that she and authorities knew he had abused young girls.

Meghan returned to Australia in April for a four-day tour with Prince Harry. The announcement of her MasterChef debut arrived on the second day of that trip. It was a day when the Duchess was notably absent from public events. Filming for the episode took place that evening. Sources indicate she was not paid for that specific appearance. Network 10 did not respond to inquiries about whether she will receive compensation for the new hosting role.

The move fits a pattern of recent business and media activity for the Sussexes. In August, the couple announced they are moving back to the UK from California. They left the UK in early 2020 and settled in California in March of that year. Since then, they have pursued media careers, including a Netflix lifestyle show called With Love, Meghan. That series ran for two seasons and a Christmas special, though it did not perform strongly with audiences. Meghan also launched the lifestyle brand As Ever, which includes a food range. The brand ended its partnership with Netflix in March. Additionally, her trademark was registered in Australia last year across more than a dozen product categories, including cookware and table linen.