Meghan Markle Called Out Over Conflicting Childhood Cooking Stories on 'MasterChef' and Netflix Show
Meghan Markle told conflicting stories about how she ate as a child on 'MasterChef Austrlia' and 'With Love, Meghan.'
July 28 2026, Published 12:50 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle's heartwarming tale of growing up on fresh, "farm-to-table" meals cooked alongside her mom during her controversial appearance on MasterChef Australia painted a picture far different from the childhood she described on Netflix's With Love, Meghan, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 44-year-old described herself as a "latchkey kid" during the first season of her since-canceled lifestyle series, saying she grew up on TV dinners, frozen meals, and fast food.
Meghan Markle Grew Up With 'Incredible California Produce'
Markle told viewers on 'MasterChef Australia' that she was raised with a healthy California farm to table style of cooking.
During Markle's appearance as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia, taped in April during her faux royal tour down under with husband Prince Harry, the former actress gushed over her healthy diet as a child on the episode that aired on July 26.
"My cooking style is really relaxed. I grew up in California, and as you know, we have incredible produce," she raved.
Markle continued, "So, I think you just start to really love farm-to-table at an early age. My mom's an incredible cook, and I grew up watching so many cooking shows."
Meghan Markle Told Netflix Viewers She Was Raised on 'Fast Food' and 'TV Dinners'
Markle claimed on her Netflix lifestyle series that she grew up on meals consisting of microwave TV dinners and fast food.
However, during season one of With Love, Meghan, the former Deal or No Deal briefcase girl, told guest Mindy Kaling a far lonelier and more unhealthy tale about her meals as a child.
"I was a latchkey kid, so I grew up with a lot of fast food and a lot of TV tray dinners. It feels like such a different time, but that was so normal – the microwavable kids' meals that had everything compartmentalized. Do you remember them?" Markle asked the six-time Emmy nominee.
"I grew up with that, watching Jeopardy! and having a lot of fast food," the ex-royal explained, saying her main meals came from El Pollo Loco, Taco Bell, and "Jack in the Box because my mom loved their tacos," a far cry from the "farm to table cooking" she told the Australian audience.
'How Many Childhoods Did Meghan Markle Have?'
Critics questioned why Meghan Markle has told so many differing stories about her childhood eating habits.
Reddit users were quick to pounce on the apparent contradictions, resurfacing Markle's differing accounts of her childhood diet and pointing out that she has offered multiple versions of how she grew up eating over the years, sparking yet another wave of criticism.
"She's an astounding idiot, and the only constant is her willingness to rewrite her own narrative," one user snarked.
"How many childhoods did Meghan Markle have? a second asked.
A third observed, "It skipped a big part where she also told people (and her dad verified it) that she wasn't a latchkey kid. She spent afterschool and weekends in the set of Married With Children, and he'd take her to fancy Hollywood restaurants," referring to her lighting director father, Thomas Markle.
A fourth Redditor quipped using a variation of Queen Elizabeth II's infamous phrase when describing Markle and Harry's claims in their 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, "Childhood recollections may vary."
Meghan Markle Claimed She Was 'Lucky' to Get $4.99 Sizzler Salad Bar Dinners Out
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Markle claimed she was 'lucky' to go to $4.99 Sizzler salad bars but also had lavish meals at Hollywood restaurants growing up.
Markle's stories about how she ate growing up have varied over the years.
In a 2021 letter to Congress about paid parental leave, she claimed, "I grew up on the $4.99 salad bar at Sizzler," feeling "lucky" that it was "something special" her hard-working parents could afford.
However, she reminisced in a 2013 Instagram post about the iconic and pricey Hollywood eatery Musso & Franks, writing, "I used to have lunch with my dad here after every tap & ballet class" while growing up.
