RICHARD EDEN: Meghan can’t cook, insists star chef after legal threat

He’s taken plenty of rough with rather less of the smooth since being born in Leeds in 1983, fleeing home – and the attentions of an abusive stepfather – aged just 13, thereafter sleeping in shop doorways till, still aged only 15, he landed a job working for legendary chef Marco Pierre White.

But now Jameson Stocks – anointed by White as Britain’s next culinary star – is learning that life is full of other hazards, among them letters threatening legal action.

Such, he tells me, has been his reward for denouncing Meghan Markle’s Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, as ‘forced and fake’ and ‘painful to watch’.

‘I got a lawyer’s letter from Netflix after I spoke out against her, warning me,’ says Stocks, whose life story so gripped Brad Pitt that he snapped up the rights to turn it into a movie.

Stocks had advised Meghan to steer clear of the kitchen and ‘go back to acting’, describing her as ‘quite a good actress’, and insisting that ‘people should stick to what they do best’.

He might as well have treated the Netflix bigwigs to a plateful of maggot-ridden meat.

Jameson Stocks, pictured, is learning that life is full of other hazards, among them letters threatening legal action, writes Richard Eden

Such, he tells me, has been his reward for denouncing Meghan Markle’s Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, as ‘forced and fake’ and ‘painful to watch’, writes Richard Eden

‘I proper p**sed them off. Netflix did not like it and came after me,’ adds Stocks, characterising the legal letter as ‘a load of nonsense’.

If intended to silence him, the missive has abjectly failed.

‘I am not taking any notice,’ Stocks assures me.

‘How can she get all this money from Netflix? I don’t think she can cook and I don’t think she should be teaching people to cook either.

‘What would I cook for her? I would cook something she has done on her TV programme but cook it properly.’

That, alas, seems unlikely, especially now that Stocks has given me his assessment of Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever.

He says: ‘Her jam sold out in minutes. I think they probably only had about ten of each product.’

Stocks, who acknowledges that he doesn’t make his own, adds: ‘I know Lidl do jam for about £15 cheaper.’

A Netflix spokesman declined requests for comment.

Stocks previously claimed to have rejected an offer to work on With Love, Meghan because he feared being ‘slammed for being a part of’ a ‘forced and fake’ show.

The chef believes that he made the right choice, blasting the show as ‘terrible and painful’ to watch – although sources said Stocks was in fact not invited to participate.

‘I got a lawyer’s letter from Netflix after I spoke out against her, warning me,’ says Stocks, whose life story so gripped Brad Pitt that he snapped up the rights to turn it into a movie

But since attacking the show in a GB News interview, Stocks said he ‘started getting death threats and all sorts of nasty messages’.

He told the New York Post: ‘And I’m thinking to myself, “Christ. I’ve not gone in on somebody personally here because that’s something I do not do and would not do”.

‘And it’s something that’s just not [in] my nature, to be honest with you.’

Stocks said he had received ‘hundreds and hundreds’ of hateful messages, adding: ‘I’m just a single dad, and then all of a sudden, I’m getting death threats on me.’

He also insisted that he has ‘nothing against Meghan Markle’, explaining: ‘I never personally attacked Meghan. I never once did that. I never would do that.

‘I have absolutely zero interest in anything to try and bring her down. My only thing was I didn’t like the show and that was it. It wouldn’t matter if it was Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck or Donald Duck. I just didn’t like the programme.’

Stocks claimed that he was at New York Fashion Week in February last year when he had a ‘casual conversation’ with two people from Netflix who wanted him to consult on a mystery lifestyle programme which he thought was Meghan’s upcoming series.

He claimed those he met ‘were kind of preparing’ him for the star and the show to be ‘very divisive’, but he ‘shut it down quite quickly’ because it ‘just wasn’t for me’.

But a Netflix production source claimed that With Love, Meghan was not even in development at the time Stocks said he met with the executives – and also denied the chef was ever approached about the show, which came out on March 4.

It comes after Stocks told GB News that he rejected an offer to work on the show because he was not sure it would be a good series.

Since attacking the show in a GB News interview, Stocks said he ‘started getting death threats and all sorts of nasty messages’

He said in that interview: ‘I was asked last year by Netflix if I wanted to consult on a lifestyle programme. They didn’t go into too much detail about who it was but I already kind of knew anyway.

‘I felt like even if she produced a really great programme – which I was quite sceptical of – that I might get a little bit slammed for being a part of it. I didn’t like the idea of me showing her how to do something and then it being forced and fake.

‘I imagine Netflix would have had two or three consultants – a stylist, for her clothes, to give her ideas for the food.

‘If she is going to do something herself, she should do something herself. Netflix is obviously such a huge company, they’re going to surround her with quality people to make her look good.

‘At the end of the day, they’re trying to chase the money. I honestly thought it was terrible. Everything – the music is quite slow, it’s quite lethargic, it’s quite painful to watch.

‘I think she should go back to acting – she’s quite a good actress. In real life or on screen. People should stick to what they do best.’

However, some of those who worked on the show have spoken out to say it was ‘a lot of fun’.

Director Michael Steed told People: ‘Her cooking is pretty spot-on. She’s not a chef, and it’s definitely not meant to make it seem like she is, but there’s just a love of cooking that is palpable.’

A crew member added that Meghan was ‘warm’, ‘approachable’ and ‘genuine’.

And chef Roy Choi, who appeared on the programme, said about her cooking: ‘She was great. This wasn’t an act, you know? This is something she truly loves to do. She was very natural in the kitchen. She knows how to welcome people – that’s a big part of cooking too.’

Jameson Stocks went from sleeping in shop doorways to global culinary stardom

Jameson Stocks has led an extraordinary rags-to-riches story, having left home and his abusive stepfather aged only 13 before spending the next two years sleeping in shop doorways on London’s streets.

But he got his first big break by getting a job aged 15 working for Marco Pierre White at Soho restaurant Quo Vadis.

Stocks quickly established himself as a restauranteur and became the youngest recipient of The National Restaurant of The Year aged 24.

The rights to his life story have now been bought by actor Brad Pitt, with future plans of a Hollywood biopic.

Stocks had a recent relationship with model Jo Wood, 69, former wife of Ronnie Wood, after they met at an awards ceremony in 2023.

He also had a secret two-month romance with former Atomic Kitten star Kerry Katona, 44, which he revealed to MailOnline in an interview last month.

He said they connected over Instagram following the breakdown of Katona’s engagement to Ryan Mahoney, but they split in January.

Stocks is a single father to two sons, and consults for Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe. And he has recently opened a new street food venture in Chichester, where he has lived for the last two years.

Stocks is also a fashion star – having appeared on the runways of London, New York, Milan, Paris and Vancouver.