Apple watch dock favourites not working

Hi,

iPhone XS Max MT502B/A / 15.3

Apple Watch S2 MNYY2LL/A / 6.3 (17U208)

No updates available for either device.

I have set in the iPhone Watch app Dock > DOCK ORDERING > Favourites, and set one favourite "Messages".

Despite numerous attempts to resolve this the Apple Watch only shows recents, it refuses to show my favourites. I confirmed this by removing all recent apps (swipe and close), and then it states "Recently used apps appear here".

I have tried:

-clearing sync data

-resetting the Apple Watch to factory (no backup)

-resetting the iPhone to factory (no backup)

-reinstalling the Watch app

-toggling favourites to recents

-rebooting the iPhone

-rebooting the Apple Watch

What am I missing? Is this a bug?