Meghan Markle is set to return to British TV later this month as a special judge on MasterChef Australia... but she will be on a tiny Freeview channel

The Duchess of Sussex is returning to our TV screens later this month – but viewers will have to scour the listings to find her.

Meghan's wish to be back on British TV will be fulfilled on October 19 when she appears as a special judge on MasterChef Australia.

But to see her you'll have to find the U&W channel, which can be accessed on Freeview's Channel 25 or through the network's U streaming service.

It's a far cry from rumours that she was in talks with producers of the hit Netflix series, The Gentlemen, and that that was the reason for her return to Britain with Prince Harry.

In fact, it later emerged the duchess had little more than a preliminary meeting with the programme's bosses.

Now the brief reappearance on TV of the ex-Suits actress will sit alongside 20-year-old re-runs of defunct police soap The Bill, 999 Rescue Squad and Inside The Operating Theatre.

A television insider said: 'Meghan will be able to watch herself on the telly after all, but it's not like it's on a streaming giant, the BBC or even ITV.

'It's on Freeview, right back on channel 25. But it will be the first time she has been on our screens for a long while and UKTV bosses are hoping it will bring a boost in ratings.

'She will surely be really happy to be on the telly, but it's not quite the big return that was talked about. She has divided the nation so it's going to be interesting to see what the reaction is like from British viewers.' 

Meghan, 45, filmed the MasterChef Australia special in April while on a four-day tour of the country with the prince.

Contestants were tasked with creating a dish ‘fit for a duchess’ using some of her favourite seasonal ingredients. She joined regular judges Poh Ling Yeow, Sofia Levin, and Jean-Christophe Novelli and insisted on being called Meghan.

It also featured a video call from Prince Harry who apparently had no idea that she was filming the show, but cameras were on hand to record it all. The programme aired on Australia's Network 10 in July.

Meghan showed her love of cooking in her Netflix series With Love, Meghan. Despite running for two series, Netflix figures revealed it was not among its top 300 most watched programmes.