Episode one of Meghan Markle’s new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, has now been released to the public – and it has received a mixed response from listeners and critics
Meghan Markle has had a difficult start to the year, with both her Netflix series and her As Ever lifestyle range failing to impress the critics.
But she did receive some good news this week following the release of her new Lemonada podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder. The first episode was released to the public on Tuesday and saw Meghan sit down with friend and Bumble founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, to talk about life and business.
It received mixed reviews, but that didn’t stop the podcast from drawing in listeners. It debuted in the top 10 chart in all categories on Apple Podcasts on its first day of release, and took the number 1 spot amongst business podcasts. It is currently sitting at number five in the US and number 11 in the UK in the Apple Podcast Top Charts list.
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The news was quickly celebrated by Meghan’s fans, with one writing on X: “This is wonderful..for such a niche topic!” Another added: “Omg! Congrats, Meghan!!” And a third commented: “So excited for Meghan.” A fourth commented: Excellent opening for Meghan’s podcast “Confessions of a Female Founder”!
Confessions of a Female Founder is an eight-part series that sees the Duchess speak to female founders and discuss “the success, the struggles, and the never-before-told stories” that go hand in hand with building a business.
In the first episode, Meghan discussed everything from her postpartum preeclampsia, to the realities of being a working mum, and facing criticism in the public eye.
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But despite proving a hit in the charts, the podcast didn’t go down well with everyone. Confessions of a Female Founder has been savaged by critics, with The Telegraph, The Standard and The Guardian all giving it two stars, while there were also scathing write-ups in The Times, The Express and i Paper.
One key criticism was that listeners might have hoped to hear much ‘wisdom’ from Meghan’s guest, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd – but ‘we get none of it’, because the former actress ‘steers conversations towards her own experiences’.
Telegraph TV critic Chris Bennion described the show in a scathing review as having an ‘inane stream of mindless aphorisms’ with ‘no confessions or secrets’.
The Guardian’s pop culture writer Rachel Aroesti, meanwhile, said that the ‘sycophantic interview podcast is stomach-turning’.
Whenever her guest opened up about her life, “Meghan very rarely reciprocates”, she noted, adding: “You can understand why she’s guarded – but the problem is that personal disclosure fuels parasocial relationships, which are podcasting’s primary draw.”
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And The Times’s reviewer Charlie Gowans-Eglinton said she had hoped to listen to Wolfe Herd talk about how she made a billion, ready to “jot down the wisdom that will doubtless awaken the entrepreneur within and make me my first million”. But, she added: “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”.
A further review in The i Paper by chief culture writer Sarah Carson described the podcast as ’45 minutes of platitudes’.
Prior to Confessions of a Female Founder, Meghan released another podcast – Archetypes, which ran for just 12 episodes and saw Meghan speak to celebrities, historians and experts about the history of stereotypes levelled against women.
It was axed following Spotify’s decision to end its £16 million deal with Harry and Meghan, the Duchess later signed a new deal with Lemonada to continue her “love of podcasting”.
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While Meghan is focused on her latest venture, her husband Prince Harry has other things on his mind. He flew to London on Sunday ahead of his High Court hearing over his security in the UK – but has once again failed to see any of his family members, including the King and Prince William.
His transatlantic trip comes after the Charity Commission confirmed it is opening a regulatory compliance case against Sentebale, the children’s charity he founded in 2006 following a very public fall-out with its chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, who has accused Harry of ‘harassment and bullying at scale’.
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