Meghan Markle made a surprise appearance as a guest judge on the cooking show Down Under. The Duchess of Sussex, 44, gushed that she’s “so excited” to be part of the programme as she walked onto the set, dressed all in black. She made her much anticipated debut on the show during her tour of Australia three months ago.

Before the former Suits actress arrived on set, Poh told the contestants she was so excited to introduce the “mystery guest judge” filling in for Andy Allen, who was on paternity leave, that she was trying to refrain from “swearing”.

Meghan turned heads as she strutted into the MasterChef kitchen, much to the shock of the amateur chefs competing to be crowned show champion.

“Welcome. Do I call you Duchess?” Poh asked Meghan, before the pair embraced.

But she insisted the team simply call “Meghan”, as she replied: “Oh, call me Meghan. Absolutely, yeah.”

Viewers reacted to the on-screen moment as the former Suits actress appeared to ditch her royal title.

One viewer moaned: “Does she think people care about titles today.” Another quipped: “Sure [laughing emojis].”

A third commented: “Glad she reminded us that she is a duchess.” A fourth added: “That’s surprising.”

A fifth fumed: “Wait, doesn’t she want to be called royalty? Make up your mind.”

Another remarked: “‘I’m Sussex now’. As she said on her Netflix show. I’m surprised she did pull them up on it!”

A seventh claimed: “Royal by name but not by nature!”

Meanwhile, others gushed over Meghan’s appearance on the cooking show.

One penned: “We enjoyed it so much, I hope Meghan gets to do a lot of these type of programme, she is so good at it. This is the Meghan I have always known with more sparkle.”

Another tweeted: “I love MasterChef anyway as it’s the only reality show which is so positive & uplifting this episode was next level tho with Meghan – did you hear Poh say to Meghan about coming back next year.”

Meghan’s insistence that the cast use her name instead of her royal title comes after her alleged sensitivities over claims that her Australian tour with Prince Harry back in April was cashing in on their royal links.

She was reportedly ‘frustrated’ with producers when she was described as ‘royalty’ in a promo for Australia’s wildly popular reality TV show.

“Meghan and her team had ‘specifically’ made clear they did not want the word ‘royal’ used’, a source said at the time the promo was released, reports The Daily Mail.

After she introduced herself as “Meghan” on Sunday night’s show, she went on to gush about her love of Australia having first visited the country with her husband Prince Harry eight years ago.

Meghan then went on to proudly boast that both her children – Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet – enjoy eating Brussels sprouts and encouraged MasterChef Australia contestants to “keep a sense of humour”.