JANA HOCKING: I’ve seen Harry & Meghan and there’s some dating advice we should follow

As much as I hate to admit it, and believe me it’s through clenched teeth, there’s some absolutely golden dating advice in the Harry and Meghan Netflix documentary.

Like the rest of the world, I watched the documentary hoping for some juicy behind-the-scenes gossip and a bombshell or two. Sadly, I was met with a couple sitting in a beautiful mansion sharing cheesy Instagram-curated photos and complaining about how tough their life is.

Meghan, you know, we’re much more interested in the time Kate made you cry over a debate about whether you should have the flower girls in stockings.

Anyway, I’m a bit of a cow because I have to give kudos to the girl. In just one sentence, she managed to completely dispel the myth that men should take the lead in dating.

Meghan Markle ditched advice from dating books… and landed a prince, writes Jana Hocking

Let me set the scene for you: Meghan and Harry sat on a plush lounge and shared the story of how they met. The Duke of Sussex explained that he first saw Meghan in an Instagram post on a mutual friend’s account in the summer of 2016.

“Meghan and I met through Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, it was like a snapchat. Meghan added: “That whole thing, the dog-ears. He saw that from me.’ But even through that puppy filter, Harry said, “That was the first thing, I was like, ‘Who is that?’

Ok, firstly, scare, and secondly, I kind of call this BS because every guy in the world was obsessed with Meghan in suits at the time. So phew leasing. You’d already stared at her on the show and then got excited when you found out you had a mutual friend who could set you up. That’s my theory and I stand by it.

Anyway, the dating gold is about to come, so stay with me…

Harry took her out for a drink at Soho House and she wasn’t impressed that he was half an hour late until she realized he was genuinely embarrassed by his lateness. The date lasted an hour before she left to attend a pre-arranged dinner. Ok, this part isn’t the dating gold, but I really give her props for keeping the date tight and sticking to her original dinner plans. The world doesn’t wait for a prince! Bravo Meghan, bravo.

Ok now we get to the good part…

Harry and Meghan at their wedding reception

You see, although their first date only lasted an hour, Meghan wasted very little time arranging a second date before leaving London.

She called him later that night (yes, you read that right – she called him) and said, “Look, I’m leaving the day after tomorrow. Do you want to go out to eat tomorrow night?’ And I’m sure he thought it was so forward and American. I’m sure he told me it was so forward and American. Then yes, we had dinner at the same place the next night.

Well, excuse me, are we supposed to start a big bomb fire and throw all these useless dating rule books right in because the girlfriend broke ALL the rules.

You know what I mean, the rules that say wait for him to text first, don’t chase, let him be the alpha, play hard to get, treat ’em mean, keep ’em sharp etc etc ., snoring, etc …

No, Meghan threw caution to the wind, and let’s face it, it really paid off.

Meghan and Harry at the last Ripple of Hope Gala in Manhattan

It just proves my point (which I really like to hammer home after a few Chardonnays) that there is absolutely no right or wrong way to go about dating. If you like someone do it, if the mood is right they will let you know, if not you will find out.

I’m proud to be a bit of a “Meghan Markle” myself. Gosh, the number of guys I’ve dated after making the first move is ridiculous.

I particularly remember one guy I was actively chasing. Actually I should be embarrassed by this story, and yet I’m not.

I worked on a travel show called Getaway, owned by the same TV network as Farmer Wants A Wife. There was this ridiculously hot farmer, and when I found out that one of our cameramen had been working on the show, I cornered him and got him to tell me how things turned out for the hot farmer.

He revealed that there was an epic plot twist at the end and the farmer ended up not choosing any of the girls.

Cue choir of angels! I knew what to do. I put together a little PowerPoint presentation of all the “touristy” stuff in his hometown and ran right into my boss’s office and said, “Can we please shoot a travel episode in the country town this farmer is from and get him to do it to present them to you? You know cross show promotion and all that jazz?’

Luckily my boss agreed and before you know it I’m calling the handsome farmer and organizing the shooting schedule. Yeah, I staged a whole TV shoot just to meet the guy.

So for all those ridiculous dating self-help “gurus” telling you how to “play the game,” I say oh please. Dating should be easy, writes Jana Hocking

Jump forward a week later and after the shoot we’re sitting in a country pub enjoying ourselves and a week later he’s asking me to be his girlfriend. I dated the guy for a whole damn year.

Why? Because I chose it! I shoot my shot! I did it proactively.

So for all those ridiculous dating self-help “gurus” telling you how to “play the game,” I say oh please. Dating should be easy. If you like someone and want to text them after a date. Do it. If you want to ask her out on another date right away, do it. What do you have to lose? Absolutely nothing. Just ask the woman who got married in a CASTLE.