The Internet has, frankly, been brutal toward Meghan Markle ever since people found out she’d earned a 2026 Emmy nomination. I mean it when I say brutal. People have been roasting her chopping skills and joking about how she’s so good at “transferring pretzels from one bag to another,” a nod to a now-viral moment in which the actress-turned-royal-turned lifestyle host took the snack from a normal bag and dumped it into a fancier plastic bag. The jokes are ripe for the taking, and have been since With Love, Meghan released, but I do think most fans who are kidding around are missing one important piece of information.
First, here’s one particularly brutal tweet about the Emmy nomination, and a whole slew of people who are befuddled by or snarky about the news.
Meghan Markle’s Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lifestyle Program and this is the chopping we’re getting? 😂 At least Kendall Jenner doesn’t pretend to be some lifestyle guru. pic.twitter.com/PmYxyyn6KLJuly 19, 2026
Like I said, anyone who has actually seen an episode of With Love, Meghan, the lifestyle series that made it for two seasons on Netflix before the streamer canceled it, knows the show is fluff. According to the Emmy nomination, it’s apparently also daytime fluff, as it got put up for a Daytime Emmy Award this TV season, surprising many.
Here is where I think people are missing a major facet of this nomination. Markle isn’t competing against The Bear. She’s not competing against The Pitt (though even the cast thought those noms were fake) or Zendaya in Euphoria. She’s not even competing against other reality shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race or Survivor’s big deal Season 50 nom. She’s not competing against variety programs like SNL or the many various late night programs.
Here are the shows With Love, Meghan is competing against at this year’s ceremony:
- A Different Breed (Inkblot/Purina Films)
- GeorgeTo The Rescue (NBC)
- The Motherhood (Hallmark Channel)
- The Wizard Of Paws (ByU TV/ Vox/ ETC)
- With Love, Meghan (Netflix/Sony)
So, how could a show that was so panned (aka "painful to watch") land itself an Emmy nomination? Relatively easy, actually. Shows get submitted via application and then get voted on by a judging panel; it's that simple. Anyone can basically submit. The main criteria is the program needs to be able to be viewable by 50% of "eligible U.S. Households." However, a separate note in the official rundown mentions that programs "made online" and "intended for a national audience" fit the criteria, which seemingly works for With Love, Meghan.
It’s not even the only low-rated show to land a nomination. In fact, the only other show I was fairly familiar with was The Motherhood, a limited Hallmark program featuring Connie Britton working with single moms to help make over their lives with coaching, self-help and more. It’s also not a particularly well-received series, with a 5.0/10 rating on IMDB.
Of these other shows, at least the home renovation series George to the Rescue and the prosthetics for animals show The Wizard of Paws are well-rated on varying platforms. A Different Breed also has reasonably solid reviews, but I think the point is, the average person has probably not heard of the majority of these programs. It’s a relatively easy category to enter, and Meghan Markle could very well land an Emmy if her cards have been played correctly.
When Will We Find Out?
The Daytime Emmys are a little different than the Primtime Emmys you probably think about when awards shows come to mind. Those will hit the 2026 TV schedule on Monday, September 14th on NBC (or for anyone with a Peacock subscription). Meghan Markle and her show will not be in that lauded group, however. The Daytime Emmys happen later this year.
If you want to find out more about the Outstanding Lifestyle Program category and its winners, the Daytime Emmy Awards will be on October 30th, 2026. The big difference between the two programs is the Television Academy hosts the Primetime Emmy Awards. The Daytime Emmys are put on by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Clearly the barriers to entry are different too, but please note that no matter which Emmy you win, the statues are exactly the same.
So, that’s something.
