Meghan Markle's ex pauses plans for a TV show about an actress who marries a prince: report
Meghan Markle‘s ex-husband has given her an early wedding gift.
U.K. tabloid the Sun reports that TV producer Trevor Engelson, who was married to Markle from 2011 to 2013, will not proceed with a sitcom based on her life. He pitched a show about a man whose former flame marries a British prince to Fox in September, the newspaper reports, and hired Danny Zuker, executive producer of the hit show Modern Family, to write it.
However, The Sun says Engelson, 41, has now decided to put his plans on hold, although it’s not because he and Markle, 36, are on friendly terms. They reportedly haven’t spoken since their acrimonious divorce. Markle biographer Andrew Morton wrote in his 2018 book, Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, that, “Even after five years [Engelson] can barely contain his anger.”
But Markle managed to change his mind about a show based on her life.
“She reached out to him at first through friends and now they have kept up the pressure and Trevor has pushed things back,” an unnamed senior TV executive told the newspaper. “The plan was for the series to come out during the aftermath of the royal wedding later this summer but things have changed. Trevor has focused on other projects after having calls and impromptu meets with Meghan and his old social circle.”
The executive added that there’s also a business concern.
“There is a feeling too that it is too soon for a TV network to go straight at the new royals given their popularity, and it could flop,” the source said. “So that too is a factor, as Trevor has still not confirmed yet if he will walk away from the project.”
It helps that Engelson has several other things to work on. He executive-produced the first season of FX’s crack-cocaine drama Snowfall, which is set to return in July, and worked on the delayed TV reboot of the ’80s cult classic Heathers. He also has movies in the works.
The report about Engelson comes just one day after the latest drama over Markle and Prince Harry’s much-anticipated nuptials. On Tuesday, Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, said he wouldn’t attend the event, where he was expected to walk his daughter down the aisle, because of the revelation that he had worked with the paparazzi to stage a photo shoot. He then changed his mind, but will not be able to attend after all, because he needs surgery following a reported recent heart attack.
Still, preparations are underway. The lemon elderflower cake that the bride and groom requested is already being made.
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