Meghan Markle's latest 'sycophantic' podcast hit with brutal reviews as critics call it 'stomach-turning'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Meghan Markle's new podcast ‘Confessions of a Female Founder’ debuted to largely negative reviews, with multiple outlets offering two-star ratings and calling it hollow.

Despite discussing serious topics such as postpartum health, many critics felt the show lacked depth and meaningful content.

Meghan Markle's podcast review 

The Duchess of Sussex co-hosted the episode with Whitney Wolfe Herd, discussing postpartum preeclampsia and personal challenges.

However, reviewers across major UK publications described the conversation as self-indulgent and lacking substance.

In a critical review, The Telegraph’s TV critic Chris Bennion said the show was filled with “an inane stream of mindless aphorisms” and had “no confessions or secrets.”

Bennion wrote, “There are plenty of self-care aphorisms, journeys of self-love and validation, discussions of bottling your essence, and great handfuls of mutual adoration.”

Meghan Markle slammed for offering too little from ‘perfumed echo chamber’

He questioned why Whitney Wolfe Herd didn’t have more insight, noting, “The frustrating thing is that Wolfe Herd, who is just 35, presumably does have wisdom to impart, having been part of the team that created Tinder before she created Bumble." 

He added, "Imagine the drive, the talent, the decisions and sheer bloody ruthlessness it must take to achieve what she has. We get none of it.”

Bennion added that the show offered very little, saying, “In this perfumed echo chamber, the best we get is a sense that Wolfe Herd didn’t love school and that she wishes she hadn’t worked so hard.” 

The Guardian's review of Meghan Markle's podcast

The Guardian’s Rachel Aroesti described the show as a “sycophantic interview podcast” and said it was “stomach-turning.”

She observed, “Whenever her guest opened up about her life, Meghan very rarely reciprocates,” and added, “You can understand why she’s guarded – but the problem is that personal disclosure fuels parasocial relationships, which are podcasting’s primary draw," Daily Mail noted.

Aroesti further noted, “It’s hardly a manual of specific, constructive business advice; it’s simply an effusive chinwag between two like-minded pals that may as well have taken place behind a deluxe set of closed doors.”

Critics say Meghan Markle has been 'frozen in time' since 2017

India Block from The Standard gave the podcast a two-star review, claiming Whitney Wolfe Herd "gentle-parents" Meghan Markle and suggesting the Duchess has remained "frozen in time" since she shut down her lifestyle blog The Tig in 2017, ahead of her engagement to Prince Harry.

However, Block acknowledged Meghan’s skills as an interviewer, writing, “The Duchess is a generous and competent interviewer, playing up her anxieties and being the right amount of complementary and deferential to keep her guest relaxed and talking.”

In The Express, Hanisha Sethi wrote that she wanted Wolfe Herd to “share more learning curves about her journey rather than lunches with Meghan and bottles of rose.”

She said Meghan “takes control of the narrative early on in the episode,” adding, “She bluntly directs the podcast by informing her friend of how she wants the conversation to be ‘relaxed and easy’ – which is normally a chat you would have with a guest behind-the-scenes instead of on-air for broadcast.”

“Meghan often steers conversations towards her own experiences, regardless of the original topic. While this may stem from a desire to connect or relate, it can also overshadow others’ contributions," Sethi wrote.

The Times reviewer Charlie Gowans-Eglinton said Meghan missed the opportunity to ask Wolfe Herd “how she made a billion, but she had other things on her mind.”

She wrote, “I have been listening for eight minutes and 48 seconds before Whitney (I will call her Whitney, since we are doing ‘girl talk’) speaks about business for – I timed it – 17 seconds before Meghan chimes in again.”