Meghan Markle 'Not First Choice' for Role in 'The Gentlemen' — Guy Ritchie Favors Kim Kardashian as His 'Leading Lady'
Meghan Markle has competition for a role in 'The Gentlemen' as creator Guy Ritchie wants Kim Kardashian to star, according to insiders.
Aug. 28 2026, Updated 4:20 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle is not Guy Ritchie's first choice for a role in his Netflix series The Gentlemen, according to new claims Breaking Celebrity News can reveal.
The Duchess of Sussex has been heavily linked with a shock part in the recently announced third season following her return to the U.K. with her husband, Prince Harry, 41.
'If Guy Could Land Kim, She Would Be His First Choice'
Director Ritchie is excited by the buzz signing Kardashian will cause, claim insiders.
But according to insiders, the British director has another A-list name in mind: Kim Kardashian.
Taking to his Naughty But Nice Substack page, Rob Shuter explains: "Guy loves controversy, star power and people who instantly get everyone talking – and Kim delivers all three. Meghan is absolutely in the conversation, but she’s not the only one. If Guy could land Kim, she would be his first choice."
The insider believes Ritchie, 57, favors Kardashian, 45, over the ex-Suits star due to the amount of exposure the SKIMS founder will bring the show globally.
The source added: "Meghan would create noise. Kim would create an earthquake. Guy understands that controversy can be incredibly valuable when you’re trying to make television people cannot stop talking about."
Meghan Markle Wants 'Ultimate Temptress' Role
Markle's acting comeback is part of the reason why she and Prince Harry are returning to U.K, claim sources.
Markle is apparently being considered for the role of the "ultimate temptress" in the dark comedy.
The 44-year-old's ambition to kick-start her acting career is also believed to have contributed to Markle's decision to move back to the U.K. with Harry.
A source told The Sun: "The gossip in TV circles is that Meghan could play the ultimate temptress, who puts the cat among the pigeons by seducing an aristocrat.
"The Gentlemen would be perfect for her as it's a big-budget, glossy production which is quintessentially British. But because it is on Netflix, that gives it a huge global audience. In fact, it is one of the streaming giant’s biggest hits of recent years."
The insider continued, "It would see her star opposite Theo James, who plays Eddie, and he is one of the frontrunners to be the new James Bond.
Sussexes Eye '$16million Estate'
Meghan and Harry are looking to settle down in the Cotswolds.
"Everything about the project screams quality, but it is also one with a bit of an edge too."
Meanwhile, Markle and Harry are reportedly eyeing a massive $16million estate in an "incredibly expensive" area of the Cotswolds as their new base in the U.K.
“Now, tacky would be the wrong word, but the Oxfordshire end is slightly newer money as opposed to the Gloucestershire side," royal insider Tom Sykes explained on his The Royalist podcast about the two distinct areas of the Cotswolds.
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Markle and Prince Harry may be base themselves in a village called Stow-on-the-Wold.
"Harry and Megan, I'm told, are very interested in looking at houses around the kind of region of quite a famous village that I'm sure any of our American visitors who've been to the Cotswolds will have visited, which is called Stow-on-the-Wold," the host noted about the quaint village near the border on the "OX" and "GL" as he noted the shires are known.
Sykes called the town "a sort of famous village... and that is the gossip going through all the WhatsApp groups, all the people, all the professionals in the Cotswolds."
