Former actress Meghan Markle is inviting Netflix viewers “home” with her upcoming cooking and lifestyle series “With Love, Meghan,” but there’s a catch. The man is not hers.
Instead of showing off her $14.65 million Montecito mansion, Markle, 43, filmed the series at an $8 million farmhouse just 2 miles away, owned by local philanthropists Tom and Sherrie Cipolla, the Daily Mail revealed.
The choice of location has raised eyebrows, with critics calling it another tone-deaf move by the former working king.
While the show promises viewers a casual “at home with Meghan” vibe, the high-end cookware and luxury finishes suggest something out of the ordinary.
An insider told The Post Markle initially went for the farmhouse aesthetic, thinking it would help bring an “average country-looking vibe” to viewers instead of shooting at her extravagant Montecito mansion.
But it turns out that it had the opposite effect.
The Cipolla Farmhouse, set on 5 acres of avocado and lemon groves, features four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, and a 4,500-square-foot interior with an open floor plan and elegant design.
While the home is valued at $8 million today, the Cipollas paid $4.7 million for it in 2017, according to Realtor.com.
Its centerpiece is the kitchen, where Markle shows off her cooking and entertaining skills on a $19,000 Thermador range, flanked by $750 pans and $80 cutting boards. The Caesartone countertops alone are worth thousands, and the cabinetry is outfitted with black walnut cutting boards priced at $75 each.
In one scene, Meghan is seen laying out caprese appetizers designed to look like ladybugs on $40 handmade plates from Los Angeles-based Earth and Element. Elsewhere, a $345 salad bowl from Parisian brand Astier de Villatte adorns the kitchen island.
This isn’t Markle’s first brush with borrowed luxury.
In their 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the couple filmed interviews at a $30 million estate nearby, choosing not to show their sprawling Montecito estate, which boasts nine bedrooms, 16 bathrooms and extensive gardens.
“If this [Netflix series] was filmed at her residence, at least it would have come off more authentic,” added the insider.
The “With Love, Meghan” trailer, released last week, gives fans a sneak peek into her world of cooking, party planning and gardening. But the duchess’s idea of ”everyday beauty” seems far removed from public life.
“I’ve always loved taking something quite ordinary and elevating it,” Meghan says in the trailer, as she whips up British-inspired desserts like Victoria sponge and Eton Mess in the Cipolla kitchen.
She promises to share “personal tips and tricks” and embrace “boring over perfection,” adding that the goal is to show “how easy it can be to create beauty, even in the unexpected.”
The show also features celebrity guests such as Mindy Kaling, Abigail Spencer and Prince Harry, with scenes of arranging flowers, mixing cocktails and even harvesting honey from local beehives.
However, it’s the wealth on display — like Meghan’s $500 Vitamix blender or the coordinating Le Creuset cookware sets priced at $225 a piece — that has critics questioning how connected the series will be.
The decision to film at the Cipolla estate has fueled criticism of the Sussexes’ “relationship problem”.
The couple’s mansion, purchased in 2020, features manicured gardens, sweeping views and enough space to accommodate multiple filming sets. However, Meghan and Harry continue to shield most of their private lives from the public eye.
In a 2022 interview with The Cut, Markle revealed that the property’s two palm trees were a major reason they bought the home. “One of the first things my husband saw when we walked in the house were those two palm trees,” she said.
“We did everything we could to get this house.
Despite their love for the property, the couple have rarely shared pictures of it, choosing instead to use other luxury homes as filming backdrops for Netflix.
The choice of the Cipolla farm underscores what some see as a growing disconnect between Meghan’s brand and its audience. Richard Mineards, a Montecito neighbor, recently accused the Duchess of not contributing to the local community.
“I personally don’t think Meghan is an asset to our community,” Mineards said in a German documentary. “She doesn’t really go out or get involved.”
Coupled with the high-profile failures of her Spotify podcast Archetypes and the flop of her Netflix series Pearl, some question whether Markle’s focus on lifestyle content is the right move. Her American Riviera Orchard brand — a Goop-like venture focused on home, garden and food products — has also faced obstacles, including trademark disputes, staffing problems and delays.
Meghan McCain also called Markle “tone deaf” for publishing the “out of touch” project.
“Now that she wants to be American again instead of the British aristocracy what she seems to forget is that Americans want real, raw, uncensored,” wrote the daughter of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain on Thursday X.
“There have been 2 terrorist attacks in 2 days, major wars have broken out and Americans can’t pay for groceries. We are a place of rage, uncertainty and intensity right now. This concept is ill-advised,” McCain said. “I would have told him to do a show that helped bring fresh food to the grocery store in low-income neighborhoods. So something to help people instead of your ego. That’s why the world doesn’t like you, nothing else. Just completely and utterly tone deaf at the moment.”
“This whole thing, even in the trailer, is very curated, manufactured and out of touch,” McCain said.
The Netflix series is part of the couple’s reported $100 million deal with the streaming giant.
Markle’s team has framed the project as a chance to connect with viewers on a more personal level, with Netflix promising moments of “squeamishness”.
“We are not looking for perfection; we’re in pursuit of joy,” Meghan said in the trailer.
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