Hannah Waddingham is the new Queen of Christmas!  Ted Lasso star, 48, is the face of TWO festive adverts

Asda may have teamed up with Michael Bublé for their Christmas advert, but the only name on people’s lips this festive season is Hannah Waddingham.

The West End legend, who got her big break on starring as Rebecca Welton on Ted Lasso, has been dubbed the new Queen of Christmas, thanks to her appearance in two festive ads.

And if that’s not enough, she has her very own Christmas musical special set to air on Apple TV+ later this month.

Audiences have been left enamoured by Waddingham’s festive appearances as of late, with one fan quipping: ‘Hannah Waddingham is the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.’

While another chimed in: ‘I want Hannah Waddingham in every Christmas ad.’

And it seems Hannah, who has also had roles in Sex Education and Game of Thrones, has always loved the festive season.

Speaking about her Bailey’s advert, the 48-year-old said: ‘Christmas is my favourite part of the year; a time to get together with my friends and family and indulge in our own festive traditions. 

‘From nights out with friends to the much-needed catch-ups with family around the kitchen table, with spontaneous cocktails to cosy evenings by the fire, it’s a time to break away from the routine and enjoy all the festive fun….Who better to partner with for Christmas than the most festive adult treat – Baileys!’  

Her festive appearances don’t begin and end with Baileys or Marks and Spencer’s, as the Ted Lasso actress is set to release her very own festive musical special.

Her Christmas extravaganza with Apple TV+ titled, ‘Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas’, will host a series of special guest and is set to hit screens on November 22.     

After getting her big-break on Ted Lasso in her mid-forties, the starlet has gone from strength to strength, from wowing Eurovision audiences to now nabbing the Christmas advert crown.

Fans have been raving about the Ted Lasso actress, with one declaring: ‘Christmas 2023 belongs to Hannah Waddingham only.’

Her appearance in Ted Lasso’s Christmas episode, which first aired in 2021, has become a firm fan favourite too, scoring and impressive 8.6/10 on IMDB with one fan dubbing it ‘their favourite Christmas episode of any show, ever’. 

But the Emmy-Award winning actress’ recent string of success did not happen overnight.

It was only three years ago that the born-and-bred South-West Londoner believed she would never achieve the current adoration she has been drowned in, during 2023. 

Waddingham spent decades playing various roles on television and the bright lights of the West End, touring across the country with Spamalot, as well as appearing as Tonya Dyke in the ITV hit series, Benidorm.

Although the starlet achieved a success many only dream of, she only achieved her big break in her mid-forties. 

In 2019, Waddingham became a household name in the UK and across the pond after landing a role of Richmond FC owner Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso, a show that has since bagged 11 Emmys.

Waddingham, who shares a daughter with her former love Gianluca Cugnetto but is apparently happily single, has bagged two Supporting Actress Emmy wins and met President Joe Biden since appearing in the hit Apple TV+ series.

The Christmas season has not been the only time of the year where the actress has dominated.  

The 48-year-old host’s eternal joie de vivre captured the hearts of Eurovision fans when it aired in May.

Waddingham earned herself the new shiny position of Eurovision heiress apparent from Eurovision hero, Terry Wogan, after she swooned fans across the world. 

Fans of the singing contest, with a global audience 160 million, declaring ‘my douze points go to Hannah Waddingham’. 

The London actress, who present presenting alongside Norton, Alesha Dixon and Julia Sanina, enamoured the Liverpool crowd with her masterful French skills, lively dancing and witty banter. 

In the months following the singing contest, her Instagram following has grown 667,000 to nearly a million.

It wasn’t just ordinary folk who expressed their adoration of the starlet, celebrities were also just as charmed. 

Carol Vorderman wrote: ‘Can I just vote for Hannah Waddingham to be on everything on the telly at all times please?’

Nigella Lawson declared: ‘Just need to say I love Hannah Waddingham with every cell in my being.’   

When asked by a journalist in a press conference prior to the competition final about her plans ‘for world domination’, Waddingham modestly answered: ‘Oh my God! Can I just digest that for a moment please?!’

Born and raised in South West London, Hannah attended private girls’ school Streatham and Clapham High School before going on to study at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts.

Although, her father was a businessman, the starlet had performing running through her veins, with her maternal grandparents and mother, Melodie Kelly, being opera singers.

The Christmas advert star grew up in Wandsworth, alongside her brother, who did not opt to pursue the showbiz route.

She spent a great deal of her time at the Coliseum – home of English National Opera – in London’s West End, where her own mother sang for 27 years.

Reminiscing on her childhood, Waddingham said: ‘My life was sitting in the stalls, watching the greats – Lesley Garrett, Bryn Terfel – this extraordinary music falling on my ears.

‘But there was nothing la-di-da about us, we were a grounded, normal family – we saw how hard Mum worked.’

Attending a local private girls’ school, it never occurred to her that she’d go into anything other than showbusiness. 

Growing up, the Benidorm actress was absolutely certain she would always go into the performing arts. 

She added: ‘The force has always been strong. I remember thinking, ‘If your job isn’t singing or dancing, what do you do?’ I never had a plan B – not in an arrogant way, but that was my vocation.’

And surely enough, the actress went on to do just that, studying study at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts.

She then went on to land lead roles in West End and Broadway musicals, bagging Olivier nominations for her appearances in Kiss Me, Kate, A Little Night Music and Spamalot. 

However, the path from the starry lights of the West End to television and film was not smooth for Waddingham, who revealed she encountered her fair share of snobbery. 

She told You Magazine: ‘People think musical-theatre actors are all jazz hands. There was so much pooh-poohing. I remember asking my agent if they were going to bring casting directors to see me in something and they said, ‘Oh no, they’re not going to come to a musical.’ I found it deeply offensive. 

‘There are so many brilliant, brilliant actors in musical theatre who aren’t doing it for fame or money, it’s because they love playing great characters – but in other fields they can’t get arrested.

One of her first jobs was in the interactive dinner show Joni and Gina’s Wedding – where audience members take on the role of wedding guests and are invited to engage with actors.

For the show, audience members assume the role of wedding guests, and are encouraged to converse with the actors.

In a discussion uInterview in 2022, Hannah attributed the improvisation style of show for allowing her to grow as an actress.

She said: ‘It really let me cut my teeth because you have to be quick-witted and on it and go with whatever someone else has said and keep it positive.

‘And that’s probably what got me into the worlds of comedy and drama… being able to mix and ebb and flow through each other.’

Hannah’s most significant recent relationship appears to have been with hotelier Gianluca Cugnetto. The couple share daughter, Kitty, eight, together.  

The star seems to be currently staying very much single but posted a gushing tribute this week to her close friend Nick Todisco on social media, calling him ‘my beautiful (and I mean crrraaaazy beautiful, inside and out) devoted champion, protector and partner in crime.’

Waddingham has also spoken in the past about fertility issues and announced she was pregnant in 2015, saying: ‘I don’t mind saying it, I know plenty of women go through it, but they kept telling me that my fertility was so low and that it might not happen,’ she said at the time.  

Rebecca Welton, the character she plays in Ted Lasso is childless and Waddingham has said she felt great empathy having had her own struggles. 

She said: ‘I was 38 when a doctor told me bluntly, ‘That ship [her fertility] has sailed’. It was absolutely vile. But I thought, ‘No it hasn’t, mate’.’

Using techniques such as acupuncture, she proved the doctor wrong, but the experience again fed into the shattering scene when Rebecca, who missed the chance of motherhood because Rupert refused to have a baby with her, learns his new, younger girlfriend is pregnant.

On being a mother to her own daughter, she says: ‘It’s incredible how it hits you suddenly. It’s taken my breath away; I’m so pleased.’

She told You Magazine earlier this year: ‘I’m a single parent, which in many ways is wonderful because you can mould the little being as you would want them to be, but at times like this there’s also an overwhelming responsibility to serve them as well as you can.’ 

The star said the huge appeal of the Ted Lasso role was that it was filmed close to wear she lives  in South London – making life as a single parent much easier. 

When her daughter was three, she fell seriously ill with a rare autoimmune disease – known as Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) – and Hannah had to dash home quickly from where she was filming in Belfast. 

After finally getting to see Kitty the following day, Hannah said she informed her management in both the UK and LA that she could no longer be away from her child.

‘I am first and foremost a mum, and more importantly a single mum,’ she told her agents over a conference call.

Hannah played a diverse array of smaller roles across stage and screen for more than two decades.   

In 2000, Hannah released the single Our Kind of Love – which was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber for his musical The Beautiful Game – to commemorate the composer’s 50th birthday.

After this, Hannah appeared in a 2002 production of Space Family Robinson before going on to star as Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, which earned her an Olivier Award nod. 

The show – which was both a West End and Broadway hit – went on to be nominated for seven Laurence Olivier awards in 2012. 

However, the actress was left furious when the production failed to walk away with a single award that year.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Hannah said: ‘I don’t begrudge the best actor or best actress award at all but I really do begrudge the fact we didn’t win best new musical.

‘I’m totally p****ed off we didn’t win that. I’m actually angry. Surely if you are nominated in seven categories there is a reason for that and at some point that should be acknowledged.’

Later that year, Hannah starred in a production of Kiss Me, Kate and was nominated for her third Olivier.

Alongside her growing stage presence, Hannah also started auditioning for more and more TV and film roles -having made her big screen debut in 2008’s How To Lose Friends and Alienate People.

In 2014, Hannah was cast as Tonya Dyke in the hit ITV series Benidorm and later opened up about her her frustrations on set.

In an interview with The Mirror, Hannah said: ‘I’d never been groped in my life, but I was groped three times in one week in Benidorm.

‘To get on set, I had to walk through the hotel dressed as Tonya in some non-existent bikini and high heels with blokes gawping at me… or rather groping me.

‘I had to stop myself doing what I’d instinctively do – knock their blocks off – because I was working.’

A Games of Thrones appearance also won her a new fanbase, as she took on the role of Septa Unella in Game of Thrones. And she also regularly appeared in Netflix’s Sex Education as Jackson Marchetti’s mother.

Speaking to the Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye in 2021, Hannah explained how she signed for mainly U.S. productions shot in the UK because she felt mainstream British TV shows were biased against actors from musical theatre.

In 2016, she hit the big-time when she was cast as Septa Unella in the fifth season of Game of Thrones.

The devout follower of the High Sparrow featured in the infamous scene which sees Cersei perform the walk of atonement as Hannah’s character yells ‘Shame!’

However, Cersei gets revenge on Septa in a later episode by waterboarding her.

During an appearance on Collider Ladies Night, Hannah opened up about the challenging filming process.

She said: ‘Other than childbirth, it was the worst day of my life. Because Lena (Headey, who played Cersei Lannister) was uncomfortable pouring liquid in my face for that long, and I was beside myself.’

‘From the moment I auditioned for Rebecca, I just felt her ripple through me,’ Waddingham told You Magazine about the role that saw her acting career fork in a new direction. 

She said: ‘I knew who she was – I knew her acerbic bark, her dry wit, the way she’d suffered controlling, verbal abuse from a partner. I’ve been through that myself, so playing her brought me great catharsis.’  

Her team had persuaded her team to try out for the role of Ted Lasso and keen to be close to home for daughter Kitty, who had been ill, the stars aligned. 

She told The Ellen DeGeneres Show that being cast in the Apple TV+ comedy felt like fate, saying she had silently ‘asked the universe’ for roles close to home. 

She said: ‘I’m going to ask the universe for something, which is probably unreasonable but, I’m going to say, ‘Thank you for making my little girl better,’ she told Ellen.

‘Can I thank you for what you’ve given me already, but can I just ask you for something that is close to home so I can do my main role, which is to be mama.

‘And also can I ask that it’s something that really shows what I can do [as an actress]. And I hope that’s not asking too much.’

The role has transformed her career, catapulting her to fame in the US. 

When she won an Emmy, she told the show’s writer and main star Jason Sudeikis: ‘Jason you’ve changed my life with this… and more importantly my baby girl’s.’

Waddingham also recently revealed to PEOPLE that she was so overwhelmed with emotion when filming for the third season (which is reportedly the final instalment) that she asked Sudeikis not to hug her.

As she recalled how the actor had tried to ‘give her a squeeze’, she said: ‘I was like, ‘Don’t. Don’t! Because I will literally start crying. Go away. Give me a squeeze and then I’ll say ‘See you later’ and we’ll go for dinner somewhere.’

Hannah plays the role of ice cool Richmond FC owner Rebecca Welton. 

Welton takes control of the club, based at fictional Nelson Road Stadium, as an act of revenge against her cheating ex-husband Rupert – and her raison d’etre becomes trying to run the club into the ground.

However the arrival of US coach, Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), alters her plan and success becomes her number on ambition, as the pair quickly become a team – not romantically – that transforms the club. 

Following the astonishing success of the show, where she is thought to have earned upwards of $150,000 per episode, she has urged Hollywood to make use of West End stars, tellin the Emmy audience after her win: ‘One more thing… West End musical theatre performers need to be on screen more. Please give them a chance, because we won’t let you down.

Following two Emmy wins for best supporting actress for her role as Rebecca Welton, the movie roles came thick and fast for Hannah. 

She played Lady Bellaston in the Tom Jones mini-series and was seen in the sequel to Hollywood blockbuster Hocus Pocus 2, playing The Witch.

Off-screen, Eurovision has won the star new fans – and she even enjoyed a visit to The White House, discussing mental health with her co-stars from Ted Lasso including Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Toheeb Jimoh. 

She revealed afterwards that she’d spoken to President Biden about the importance of talking about mental health.

When Waddingham was announced as one of the co-hosts for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, she took to Twitter to express her joy at landing the gig.

The actress wrote: ‘Couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining the Eurovision family this year of all years. #IStandWithUkraine.’

In recent months, Waddingham has been spotted on set of The Fall Guy in Sydney, Australia, starring Hollywood big hitters including Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.