Inside the rising trend of ‘hate-watching’ and why it could make Meghan’s new TV show a sensation, due to viewers bingeing it just so they can get involved in conversations about how much it annoyed them

When hundreds of thousands of viewers, perhaps even a few million, tune in to watch Meghan’s new cookery show on Tuesday, not all will be fans of the royal.

Media experts believe that for many people, the allure of the eight-part Netflix series will not be fun, love or joy – but hate.

They will be taking part in the rising trend of ‘hate-watching’, which involves tuning into a show you despise for a rather unique pleasure.

After all, studies have shown that hating something can trigger a ‘strong emotional response’, just like love, which causes positive neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin to flood the brain.

It explains why on a biological level, hating can feel good.

The craze has become quite the phenomenon on Netflix, with more and more viewers self-confessing to sitting down for a ‘hate-watching’ spree.

And now the media insider and Guardian columnist Marina Hyde has said she believes the Duchess of Sussex‘s new show, titled ‘With Love, Meghan’, could be a beneficiary of the trend.

On a recent episode of her The Rest is Entertainment podcast, which she co-hosts with author Richard Osman, she said: ‘When these shows come out they are binge-able. 

When hundreds of thousands of viewers, perhaps even a few million, tune in to watch Meghan Markle’s new cookery show on Tuesday, not all will be fans of the royal 

Media experts believe that for many people, the allure of Meghan’s eight-part Netflix series will not be fun, love or joy – but hate (stock image)

‘So you have got a hangover and you will watch four hours of it. It is like a four-hour doom-scroll, and you will get completely involved in it. 

‘Hate-watching causes the release of dopamine, adrenaline, serotonin, so I do think that chemically Meghan’s show could have a whole lot going for it.’

Another big aspect of hate-watching, which Meghan might benefit from, is that they have become party fuelled by the snark contest of social media.

Viewers now regularly revel in finding mistakes and analysing awfulness, just as much as they delight in quality programming.

Experts say hate-watchers exhibit the same symptoms as fans, such as watching every episode and micro-analysing it with other viewers, all while still abhorring what they are watching. 

‘It’s a form of expertise, just like fandom is a form of expertise,’ Joli Jensen, a media studies professor at the University of Tulsa, told the BBC. 

‘You’re getting pleasure from trying to figure out why it’s not giving you pleasure.’

But don’t worry haters, the good news is that being so is totally normal.

Because humans are naturally voyeuristic, hate-watching can prompt us to compare ourselves to who we’re seeing.

Guardian columnist Marina Hyde and Pointless star Richard Osman discussed on a podcast (pictured) how hate-watching could play a role in the success of Meghan’s upcoming show

‘With Love, Meghan’ will involve the Duchess inviting friends and celebrities to California where she shares cooking, gardening and hosting tips

It seems we are hardwired to snoop into other people’s lives, and in effect, size each other up.

JR Ilagan, a clinical psychologist based in Manila, told VICE: ‘The hate that we’re referring to here is more [toward] public content, public personas, and so on.

‘I mean, it’s fun to hate people together. You have a common enemy, I guess you could say.’

Marina seemed to agree with the academics, commenting on her podcast: ‘We do know that social media has sometimes changed how we watch television as people sometimes want to be part of various conversations.

‘And there are certain shows that are sort of lightning rods for that and often many shows come out on New Year’s Day and people are like “I watched it when I was hungover, I hated it but of course I watched the whole thing”. 

‘And there is a lot of that sort of thing about. And people go into a frenzy to be a part of the conversation. I actually do think it is a thing and I do think it makes a difference.

‘I think they enjoy being part of a negative conversation. I’m sorry to say, people love to be part of a pile on. Otherwise it wouldn’t keep happening.’

Fans and haters alike have been eagerly awaiting Meghan’s TV show after its highly-produced trailer released in January, which showed her inviting friends and celebrities to California where she shares cooking, gardening and hosting tips. 

Meghan with actress Mindy Kaling in the trailer for ‘With Love, Meghan’

Meghan high-fiving one of her guests in the trailer of the show, which is set to be released in full on Tuesday, March 4

The new series will see the duchess, 43, and her guests roll ‘up their sleeves in the kitchen, the garden, and beyond, and invite you to do the same’, according to Netflix promotional material. 

Guests include Roy Choi, Mindy Kaling, Alice Waters, ‘with additional acclaimed chefs and special friends’ – and there will be eight episodes, each lasting 33 minutes. 

However, Meghan still seems to have a sizeable fan base online, so not all of the viewers will be hate-watchers.

But because all viewers are counted in the ratings, shows can become hits if enough people dislike them.

In the eyes of a streaming company like Netflix, hate-watching and love-watching are the same thing. 

The pressure for Harry and Meghan to deliver a ratings hit is on, with some experts believing that this latest offering is their ‘last throw of the dice’.

The couple signed an £80million five-year deal with Netflix in 2020, but other than their 2022 ‘docuseries’ about their decision to leave the Royal Family, all of their shows have been flops.

The documentary about social justice Live To Lead in 2022, another in 2023 about the Invictus Games, and another in 2024 about the sport of polo – all failed to draw audiences. 

Another part of the trailer for ‘With Love, Meghan’ showed the duchess trying beekeeping

Because hate-watchers are counted the same as love-watchers in the ratings, shows can become hits if enough people dislike them (stock image)

Those shows were presumably already watched by the Sussexes fan base, so perhaps the key to the latest attempt’s success can be found in cultivating a second audience of hate-watchers.

But maybe Meghan is already aware of this, as although she has often spoken about the negative aspects of social media, she made the unexpected decision to return to Instagram at the beginning of this year.

Since then she has used the platform, and her fast-growing follower base, to promote the show incessantly, by sharing the trailer and behind-the-scenes content.

And just like with watching TV shows you despise, alongside the rise of social media, there has also unsurprisingly been a growing trend of ‘hate-following’.

It’s when people can’t get their eyes off TikTokers and influencers that make their blood boil – for similar reasons to hate-watchers. 

Having a dedicated set of them has already apparently made one TV show a runaway success – Emily in Paris.

It chronicles the goofy adventures of a peppy young American abroad in a tongue-in-cheek series.

But although it is usually brought up as the perfect hate-watching experience, figures show it has grown to become one of the most watched in Netflix history.

One of the most ‘hate-watched’ shows on Netflix is ‘Emily in Paris’ (pictured) which chronicles the goofy adventures of the character while abroad

The series mostly documents the characters’ messy love life with handsome European men

Harry and Meghan’s only successful TV show, their 2022 one about Megxit, seemingly already tapped into this trend.

Although it was widely panned by viewers and critics due to its relentless ‘woe is me’ tone, only scoring 5.1/10 on IMDB, it did pull in the ratings – becoming Netflix’s second-highest-ranked documentary ever. 

And it appears humans have been hate-watching for a long time, as even before the internet, Mystery Science Theater 3000 became a cult hit in the 1990s by showing people watching terrible sci-fi movies and picking them apart with acid commentary.

However, not everyone, including Osman, believes that hate-watching is a real phenomenon. 

On a recent podcast episode he said: ‘I don’t buy that hate-watching thing apart from the first half an hour of something and apart from the odd Instagram clip.

‘I don’t buy it in terms of if Meghan wants to have that show running for ten  seasons, that’s not a “hate-watch thing”, that is “a lot of people like it thing”.

‘People sometimes hate-watch the first episode of something, certainly in the old days, you would do it. 

‘I don’t buy it. Of course it adds something and it makes a noise, but you cannot have a career in television, you cannot have a career in any other creative arts, without connecting with an audience who loves what you do.’ 

Harry and Meghan’s only successful TV show, their 2022 ‘docuseries’ about Megxit, seemingly already tapped into the trend of ‘hate-watching’ due to the poor reviews but good ratings

The documentary went viral when Meghan appeared to mock her own efforts at following royal protocol as she recounted the ‘surreal’ moment she first met the Queen – performing a deeply exaggerated curtsy

Ms Hyde last week mocked the trailer of the show for its inauthentic ‘farm to table bull****’

Osman said: ‘Listen, whether it is hate-watch or whatever it is, a lot of people will want to have an opinion on it and will want to have watched it. We certainly will both be watching it.’ 

The experts are quick to point out that hate-watching differs from other types of less-than-loving consumption, such as a ‘guilty pleasure’ watch.

Guilty pleasures are usually a piece of work the viewer knows isn’t high art, but likes anyway, such as Love Island or Strictly Come Dancing.

It seems that With Love, Meghan has already begun to attract the dedicated hate-watchers, despite only a short trailer and previews snippets being released. 

Podcast hosts Osman and Ms Hyde got in on the action on their podcast last week when they mocked the trailer of the show for its inauthentic ‘farm to table bull****’.

Meghan’s cringeworthy phrase to ‘find joy in every moment’ was also laughed at, with Ms Hyde joking ‘she is the godhead, you are supposed to be the worshipper’. 

The duo even jested that the show might change halfway through into a ‘brilliant satire’ or be used to launch a ‘sitcom’. 

However, despite mocking the show for most of the podcast, the pair tellingly admitted they would be tuning in nevertheless. 

Osman said: ‘Listen, whether it is hate-watch or whatever it is, a lot of people will want to have an opinion on it and will want to have watched it. 

‘We certainly will both be watching it.’

Millions of people around the world will be thinking the same. Someone grab the popcorn? 

With Love, Meghan begins streaming on Netflix on Tuesday, March 4.