‘The Gentlemen’ lost millions of viewers & they’re blaming Duchess Meghan

Weeks ago, the rumors about the Duchess of Sussex possibly joining the cast of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen spread like wildfire across the trade papers, the British press and Deranger media. From what I can tell, there were some conversations but nothing was ever offered and nothing was ever nailed down between Ritchie and Meghan. But it absolutely looked like Ritchie used the rumors to promote the show ahead of its Season 2 premiere, and it looked like Netflix used the rumors to greenlight a third season. There was definitely some cynical promotion happening, but it wasn’t on Meghan’s side. Well, after the Gentlemen’s cast all had shady sh-t to say about Meghan during their press junket, it turns out that all of those machinations had a negative effect on viewership. Huh!! Of course, the Telegraph is twisting themselves in knots to blame… Meghan. Who has never stepped foot on this show’s set or said one word about the show.

The Gentlemen has lost half a million viewers in Britain amid rumours that the Duchess of Sussex is in talks to be cast in the next season.

Netflix’s audience appears to have switched off the series in droves, as the latest viewing figures show 500,000 fewer people chose to tune in to the latest instalment of Guy Ritchie’s series than the premiere of the first season.

Season two of the crime drama, which stars Theo James as he “transitions from duke to drug baron” after inheriting his family’s estate and discovering it is home to an underground cannabis empire, premiered on Sept 3.

Audience figures, supplied by the UK’s official ratings agency Barb, dropped by around 15 per cent from the first season’s debut episode, which was streamed by 3.5 million people in March 2024. By contrast, after seven days on the streaming giant, the new season’s first episode has been seen by three million British viewers.

The figures differ from Netflix’s data, which also show a similarly steep decline in viewership of nearly 50 per cent in its opening weekend compared to the first season.

According to Deadline, the show’s second series tallied 6.7 million views in its first four days of availability, almost half of that in 2024, but it has already been renewed by the streaming giant for a third season.

It comes after the news that the Duchess, before her relocation to Britain with Prince Harry last month, was in advanced discussions to join the cast for the next instalment of Ritchie’s show. The Telegraph understood at the time that the offer of the acting role formed part of the decision-making process in the family relocating to the UK with their two children, but was not the sole reason.

[From The Telegraph]

What kind of dumbass analysis is this? I’m really asking. They’re pointing to “casting rumors for a season which hasn’t been filmed yet” as the reason why people are opting out of a Meghan-free season 2? Maybe the show just sucks and viewers are turned off by Theo James’ inherent smarm, and the “Meghan casting rumors” were a hail-Mary scheme to promote a show which had little to no buzz two years since its first season? They’re talking about Meghan like she didn’t star in Suits, a show which gained so much popularity on streaming that multiple articles were written about how people were watching hundreds of millions of hours of a show which had not been on the air in years. The numbers for The Gentlemen show that without Meghan, that show is a total flop. That’s my analysis.

Update: Meghan posted from the Cotswolds!

Meghan finally posted from England pic.twitter.com/xgVLTPjHb2

— Kaiser@Celebitchy (@KaiseratCB) September 13, 2026

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.