ITV are expected to air Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The 67-year-old broadcast legend has landed the couple’s first major chat since they stepped away from the British royal family and there has been a bidding war in Prince Harry’s native UK to acquire the rights for the CBS primetime special, which will air in the US on 7 March.
According to Variety, Amazon and Netflix were never in the running, nor were the BBC, leading ITV to battle it out with Sky.
And it’s believed the paid-for broadcaster have now dropped out of the bidding war, leaving the terrestrial network as the frontrunners to screen the tell-all interview.
It is believed Viacom CBS Global Distribution Group, who will sell the programme overseas, would favour a free-to-air broadcaster to boost its platform, but Harry and Meghan are likely to have a final say in where it airs.
The royal couple previously gave an interview to ITV’s Tom Bradby in the ‘Harry & Meghan: An African Journey’ documentary in 2019, while the network also screen the ‘Royal Variety Performance’, a variety show attended by senior royals, every year.
The interview is expected to initially focus on the former actress – who is pregnant with her second child, a sibling for 21-month-old Archie – and her life, before her husband joins in with the conversation to talk about their future together.
A statement from CBS confirming the news of the interview read: “Winfrey will speak with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, in a wide-ranging interview, covering everything from stepping into life as a Royal, marriage, motherhood, philanthropic work to how she is handling life under intense public pressure.
“Later, the two are joined by Prince Harry as they speak about their move to the United States and their future hopes and dreams for their expanding family.”