Meghan Sussex Spotlights Australian Designers as Her MasterChef Episode Lifts Sunday Ratings

The “Meghan Effect” was visible Down Under as the Duchess of Sussex appeared on MasterChef Australia wearing an all-black ensemble that spotlighted Australian fashion. Meghan paired a black blouse by Matteau with a Camilla and Marc skirt and Manolo Blahnik pumps. She had already credited the look through OneOff, the fashion-discovery platform she joined as an investor and featured participant during the Sussexes’ April visit.

Her episode reached 1.16 million viewers nationally and averaged 738,000 across broadcast television and streaming. Its BVOD audience of 118,000 set a new overnight streaming record for the programme, while the overall Sunday audience rose 16 per cent from the comparable episode in 2025. Australian media described it as MasterChef Australia’s largest Sunday overnight audience in three years. 

Ratings for the episode soared to about 1.2 million, the show’s biggest overnight Sunday audience in three years and its biggest ever overnight streaming audience of 118,000, according to Australian media reports citing OzTAM data.

“The Sussexes’ Australia tour is a reminder that the Sussex effect still translates into real brand performance. When Meghan wears a brand, the data follows,” said Launchmetrics chief marketing officer Alison Bringé.

WWD

WWD described the episode’s audience as “about 1.2 million.” OzTAM figures distinguish between a national reach of 1.16 million and an average Total TV audience of 738,000. The episode also averaged a record 118,000 viewers on BVOD.

When Meghan Moves Numbers, Suddenly Everyone Becomes A Ratings Expert

The funniest part about Meghan Sussex’s MasterChef Australia appearance is watching the goalposts move in real time. For weeks, the usual anti-Meghan crowd insisted nobody wanted to see her. They predicted backlash, embarrassment and public rejection. Then the episode aired, and suddenly the conversation changed. According to reports, the episode reached 1.16 million viewers nationally and recorded an average Total TV audience of 738,000, including a record overnight BVOD audience of 118,000. According to Channel 10 figures reported by Australian media, it delivered MasterChef Australia’s largest Sunday overnight audience in three years.

So now, instead of admitting that people tuned in, the same critics are trying to pretend the numbers are somehow bad because MasterChef Australia did not defeat every television programme on earth. This is like how critics treated With Love, Meghan all over again. They wrote nasty reviews to undermine its success. Then, when Netflix released viewing data showing substantial interest in the series, those critics moved the goalposts because the figures did not support their preferred narrative.

This was not Meghan’s own show. She was a guest judge on an existing Australian cooking programme, and her episode reportedly delivered a major ratings lift. That is the story.

Final Thoughts

The outrage displayed by some critics of Meghan also exposes the double standard. When Kate Middleton’s heavily promoted royal Christmas carol special flopped, we were told to be kind, contextual and respectful. But when Meghan appears on one episode of a cooking show and brings in a bigger audience than usual, suddenly everyone becomes a ratings analyst.

That is why the press panic is so entertaining. The anti-Meghan brigade cannot decide whether she is irrelevant or too powerful. If nobody watches, they call her a flop. If people do watch, they explain why it does not count. At some point, they may have to accept the obvious: Meghan still moves numbers. People are curious. People tune in. And no amount of online tantrums can erase that.