It’s so amusing to watch the British media scramble around for “Hollywood insiders” to describe how “Hollywood” feels about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. There’s usually a tell, like the “Hollywood insider” will say something like “everyone in Hollywood adores King Charles AND Catherine!” There’s a huge British expat community in LA, and most of the time, those are the Hollywood insiders – smug British royalists trying to colonize California. Speaking of, the Mail has a new Hollywood insider who has “heard” some things about Prince Harry’s latest Netflix series, Polo. Polo is due out later this year, and it’s about the world of polo, obviously. Well, according to the Mail, Netflix is mad about it.
When Netflix signed an £80million deal with Prince Harry, executives might have hoped for lots of exclusive personal footage. But his new five-part documentary series about polo hardly features the Duke at all, I can reveal. Instead, it focuses on his friend Nacho Figueras, a little-known Argentinian player.
A source last night claimed Netflix bosses have been disappointed with just how much the final edit focuses on the unknown, saying the streaming giant expected ‘more bang for its buck’.
Through their company Archewell, Harry and his wife Meghan are executive producers of the series, titled simply Polo and due out in December. But behind the scenes it has been nicknamed ‘the Nacho Show’.
The couple signed a five-year deal in 2020 for several shows, but one Hollywood producer told me: ‘What Netflix have received in return doesn’t look great. People want personal stuff. Apart from their documentary series, which had the drama of them quitting the Royal Family, everything else they’ve produced has been underwhelming. Any reasonable person tuning into a show about polo made by Prince Harry would expect Harry to take a starring role.’
‘That he’s not is hugely disappointing for Netflix. Let’s face it, polo isn’t exactly a mainstream sport so the attraction would have been watching Harry. Without him, it’s marginal at best. The Netflix deal expires next year, so the Sussexes need a big hit. This sounds like a big nothing burger.’
Another insider said: ‘For a show about a sport of Kings, polo barely features any royalty. It’s not the Harry show, it’s the Nacho show.’
Mr Figueras, 47, has been dubbed ‘the David Beckham of polo’ but one source said: ‘Nice of Harry to do his mate a favour, but Nacho speaks broken English and is just not mainstream enough to pull in the ratings.’
This is disgusting: “Nacho speaks broken English.” Nacho is a fluent English speaker and he speaks with an Argentinian accent. The insider’s racism and colonialist attitude is showing. Nacho is not “a little-known Argentinian player,” he’s the most famous polo player in the world. He’s basically the only professional polo player most people would be able to name. Hell, he’s the only professional player I can name. Nacho has had lucrative, global sponsorships for years – he’s like the Roger Federer of the polo world. There’s a reason why Nacho is the “star” of the series – it’s because for decades, he’s been the one bringing this niche sport into the mainstream. Anyway, I imagine this will be like Heart of Invictus – Harry will be in the show, but it will mostly be about the other players and the world of polo. I’m including an interview with Nacho on the Today Show – he has absolutely been a global ambassador for polo for decades and his English is excellent.
POLO is a new documentary series that follows elite global players and offers an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the fast-paced world of the sport. From Archewell Productions and Boardwalk Pictures. Premiering this December. pic.twitter.com/92vu4xYW8u
— Netflix (@netflix) September 9, 2024
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