It was supposed to be a routine taping of the popular daytime talk show “Live with Kelly and Mark,” but tensions were high as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, made an unexpected appearance on set. What started as an excited surprise for fans quickly turned into an uncomfortable confrontation between the former actress and co-host Mark Consuelos.

The drama began when Meghan Markle, who had not been scheduled to appear, suddenly walked onto the stage during a commercial break. Audience members watched in stunned silence as the royal family member approached the desk where Consuelos was reviewing notes for the next segment.

“Megan, what are you doing here?” Consuelos said sternly, not even attempting to hide his annoyance. “This is our show. You can’t just barge in unannounced.” Markle, seemingly unfazed by Consuelos’s cold reception, smiled and replied, “I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by to say hello. Is that a problem?”

The tension in the room was palpable as the co-hosts exchanged terse words. Consuelos made it clear he did not appreciate the unexpected disruption, while Markle maintained a casual, almost defiant tone.

“It is a problem, actually,” Consuelos shot back. “We’re live on air in a matter of minutes, and we have a set schedule to stick to. You can’t just come waltzing in here whenever you feel like it.”

Markle opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Consuelos raised his hand to silence her. “No, listen. This is my show, co-hosted by my wife Kelly. You don’t get to come in here and start talking over us. That’s not how this works.”

The audience, which had been eagerly awaiting the start of the show, suddenly found themselves witnessing an uncomfortable confrontation in real time. Many shifted uncomfortably in their seats, unsure how to react.

Just then, Kelly Ripa emerged from the wings, seemingly unaware of the tension that had been building. “What’s going on out here?” she asked, looking between Consuelos and Markle with a puzzled expression.

Consuelos quickly filled her in, explaining Markle’s uninvited appearance and his objections to her disrupting their show. Ripa’s brow furrowed as she listened, and when Consuelos finished, she turned to Markle with a serious expression.

“Meghan, I’m sorry, but Mark is right. You can’t just show up unannounced like this. We have a schedule to maintain, and our audience is waiting for the show to start,” Ripa said, her tone firm but not unkind. “I know you’re used to a certain level of privilege, but that doesn’t apply here. This is our studio, our show. We need to ask you to leave.”

Miranda Lambert apparently watched The Kelly Clarkson Show recently, and when she saw Kelly do a Kellyeoke rendition of her song “Tin Man,” the country star loved it.

Miranda shared a clip of Clarson’s performance on her X and added a heart emoji and applause emoji, giving her approval.

Lambert’s fans agreed, commenting, “This song is so hauntingly beautiful. Please make it a duet and re-release.” Another fan said, “I love Kelly’s rendition, but if only I hadn’t heard Miranda’s first. Great version’s by both ya’ll.” One more fan wrote, “I liked Kelly’s version of it! It’s like a house that built me; though only Miranda can really do it justice, Kelly can cover anything. She’s one of the best vocalists.”

Miranda released “Tin Man” in 2016 from their sixth studio album, The Weight of These Wings. Lambert, Jack Ingram, and Jon Randall wrote the song, which appeared in an acoustic version on the trio’s 2021 collaborative album, The Marfa Tapes.

“Tin Man” won ACM Song of the Year in 2018.

In other Lambert news, she released a music video for her new song “Wranglers” last week (6/13), and it received the biggest streaming debut of her career.

Filmed outside Austin, Texas, the video puts to film the song’s sense of hard-won freedom for anyone leaving a situation that didn’t serve them.

Miranda said of the new music video, “‘Wranglers’ is a classic tale of a woman taking her power back. I think we can all identify with the character in this video because we have all had a time in our life where we needed to find our strength and also get a little revenge on someone who did us wrong or hurt us.”

She added, “This offers such a cool, raging take on how something like this unravels; I am so proud to sing this song.”

The new music video features Miranda’s childhood best friend, Laci, who also appeared in “White Liar.”

The clip also harkens back to Lambert’s fiery breakthrough hit, “Kerosene.” As the country star fires to a less-than-stand-up paramour’s Wranglers while donning her own Idyllwind Denim, the gas can used to fuel the flames is a replica of her first kerosene can, and the matchbook is the exact one used in that original shoot nearly two decades ago.
Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.