Hannah Waddingham takes viewers ‘Home for Christmas’ with holiday special featuring ‘Ted Lasso’ pals

Hannah Waddingham presents a festive treat for viewers with her holiday special, “Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas.” This exclusive event, which includes an accompanying soundtrack, fulfills a lifelong dream for the Emmy Award-winning and three-time Olivier Award nominee. It was an invitation that her friends received in May at the London Coliseum, but the timing was far from traditional for a Christmas celebration.

Reflecting on the unusual circumstances, Waddingham humorously recalled, “It was uncommonly sweaty in London, and there was us putting out an invitation saying, ‘Please wear your Christmas finery.’ So many of my friends rang me, were like, ‘Dude, really?’ I was like, ‘Yes, get your Christmas sweater out. If I’m going to be sweating, so can you.'”

For Waddingham, the London Coliseum holds a special place in her heart. Her mother, Melodie Kelly, was an opera singer, and Waddingham essentially grew up in the Coliseum’s corridors. She reminisces, “I’ve run around those corridors since I was 8 years old. The reason why I am who I am as a performer is from sitting in that theater watching the great opera singers of the day.” Waddingham also shared that her mother, who is battling Parkinson’s disease and uses a wheelchair, attended the special event, along with her father, who had quintuple heart surgery while she was shooting “Ted Lasso.” The presence of her 8-year-old daughter made the occasion even more remarkable.

The holiday special features a lineup of special guests, including Leslie Odom Jr., Luke Evans, and Sam Ryder. Some familiar faces from “Ted Lasso” also make appearances, with Waddingham expressing her joy at their enthusiastic participation: “We put the blanket offer out to them, and said, ‘Hannah wants as many of you as will be there.’ They were all clamoring to be involved. And let me tell you, they are big, fat Christmas hams.”

This special marks the culmination of a busy year for Waddingham, which included the airing of the third season of “Ted Lasso,” hosting the Olivier Awards, and co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest and the Earthshot Prize in Singapore alongside Prince William and actor Sterling K. Brown. As she reflects on the year’s events, she quips, “2024 is really going to have to go some because 2023 has been insane.”

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More about Holiday Special

• Hannah Waddingham’s IMDb Profile
• London Coliseum Official Website
• Leslie Odom Jr.’s Official Website
• Luke Evans on IMDb
• Sam Ryder’s Official Website
• “Ted Lasso” Official Website
• Olivier Awards Official Website
• Eurovision Song Contest Official Website
• Earthshot Prize Official Website
• Prince William’s Official Profile
• Sterling K. Brown on IMDb