Tuesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Junior MasterChef Australia adds Meghan Markle as special guest

Meghan Markle has been lined up as a co-host on the upcoming season of Banijay Entertainment's Junior MasterChef Australia.

The Duchess of Sussex will join the Network 10 show as a "special guest" alongside Poh Ling Yeow, following an appearance earlier this year on the adult version of the culinary series in Australia.

Junior MasterChef Australia is produced by Banijay's Endemol Shine Australia, with the format sold by Banijay Rights.

Markle recently moved back to the UK from California after her lifestyle brand ended its partnerhip with Netflix, with whom she produced a seris of cookery shows.

Hulu, Disney+ prep Get Huge: Looksmaxxing To Death

Hulu is preparing to launch a true-crime docuseries claiming to provide an "unflinching portrait of masculinity in the influencer age".

Get Huge: Looksmaxxing to Death is from Stacey Lee, and produced by Boardwalk Pictures (Welcome to Wrexham) and Hyperobject Industries (Don't Look Up).

It explores how alpha-male influencers became online sleuths after a partner of a guru pushing homemade biohacks is found dead in Thailand.

The three-part series will debut 10 November on Hulu in the US and on Disney+ elsewhere.

Coven Academy opens doors for S2

Disney+ has extended supernatural teen drama Coven Academy into a second season.

The show only debuted three weeks ago, with its first episode available on YouTube, INstagram and TikTok, claiming more than 30m views according to the streamer.

Its first season has already clained mnore than 20m global hours, Disney+ added.

Coven Academy is from Tim Federle and his Chorus Boy Prods in association with Disney Kids & Family. The story follows three teenage witches who reside at an elite boarding school for aspiring magicians.

NewGen launches AI tool for social video

UK-based social creative agency NewGen has launched Social AI Studio, a platform that claims to cut the time it takes to produce social video from around three days to around four hours. 

Social AI Studio aims to bring the production process into a single workflow, from concept and storyboard through client approval, filming and editing. The software sees NewGen’s creative teams directing the work and making edits by describing what they want in plain language. It also flags emerging trends early and uses the performance of past content to shape what comes next. 

Jordan Carroll is joining the agency to run its AI offering as chief AI officer. Carroll is the founder of Innovative Social, another AI-powered marketing platform. He architected NewGen’s AI capabilties, and will now also join the NewGen leadership team, with divisional P&L responsibility. 

Little Dot preps maths YouTube channel

Little Dot Studios has launched a YouTube channel and podcast with Rachel Riley to reveal the numbers behind everyday life.

The Maths of Everything is presented by broadcaster and arithmetician Riley and will run all year round, launching with one episode per week.

The channel will feature various formats including a 30-minute explainer show, breaking down the maths and stats behind topics like space travel, nature, ancient history and fast food.

Other formats will see Riley welcome guest interviewees, reveal data about our everyday lives and demystify intimidating equations.