All About Hannah Waddingham's Daughter: Everything the Ted Lasso Star Has Said About Motherhood

Both Hannah Waddingham and her Ted Lasso character Rebecca wished to be moms, and in real life, the actress made her dream come true with the birth of her daughter.

The Sex Education star welcomed her only child in 2014. Since then, her daughter, now 9, has remained Waddingham’s first priority when choosing roles and jobs.

"My primary function is being a single mama," Waddingham told PEOPLE in March 2023.

Finding the balance between working and spending time with her daughter hasn’t been without its challenges, however, and for Waddingham, “mommy guilt is real.”

"But I keep saying to her that we are a team and that I have to do this,” she said. “I have to strike while the iron is hot. I'm not so conceited that I would think that I will always have this kind of focus. I've always said to her, 'Mommy must take this time while the light shines on me, because the light shines on you.' "

From her love for Harry Styles to the custom purse she made for her mom to wear at the SAG Awards, here’s everything to know about Hannah Waddingham’s daughter.

Waddingham welcomed her daughter in 2014

As someone who was primarily focused on her career, the desire to have a child struck Waddingham suddenly when she was in a dressing room about to hit the stage at the London Palladium.

"I was a bit like, 'Oh my God, I want a child,' " she told TODAY in December 2023. "It literally, it was like a wave that hit me.”

After her realization, Waddingham said she knew she was “desperate to have one little girly.” However, shortly after she decided to start trying, a doctor told her that her fertility was too low and she would not be able to get pregnant. Hearing that “no” only pushed her to seek advice elsewhere and made her more determined to conceive, she told Glamour UK in October 2023.

Waddingham decided to turn to Eastern medicine, receiving acupuncture and Reiki as part of a holistic approach. Soon after, she said, she was pregnant and brought her daughter home on her 40th birthday.

“When I was told I couldn’t have children, I realized how precious it is to be blessed with a child,” she told the outlet. “I was lucky and I managed to conceive naturally — children come to people in all different ways — but without a doubt my greatest achievement is bringing my magnificent daughter into the world.”

She has a rare autoimmune disorder

When her daughter was 3 years old, Waddingham was just wrapping a project in Belfast, Ireland, when she suddenly became ill. The Ted Lasso actress told PEOPLE in March 2023 that she found out her daughter was diagnosed with Henoch-Schönlein purpura or HSP, a painful autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation and bleeding in the small blood vessels, resulting in rashes and sore joints.

"I can talk about it now but I couldn't for a very long time,” she said. “She was in the hospital for a while with them not knowing what it was."

At the time, Waddingham said she turned down any roles that would require her to leave London, where her daughter was. Since then, however, the little girl is doing “much better.”

She is a big fan of Harry Styles

In a January 2024 interview with BBC Radio 2, Waddingham said that while she may be her daughter’s inspiration, singer Harry Styles still comes first.

“She said ‘Mummy, we were talking at school about who inspires us and I said ‘Harry Styles and you,’ ” she said. “And I went ‘What?! Me?’ I was slightly gutted about being second billing.”

Though she noted that she would talk to her daughter about her priority orders when she got home, she joked she understood the choice. “I mean nobody can beat Harry, he’s ridiculously hot,” she said.

She is understanding of her mom’s career

One of Waddingham’s greatest concerns is whether her daughter understands her need to work as much as she does, she told Glamour UK. But when she acknowledges that she gets her mom is doing all she can to provide for them, Waddingham is filled with pride.

After her daughter told her mom that Styles was her inspiration but Waddingham was a close second, the actress told her daughter that she struggles being away from her for so long — and the little girl had a sweet reply.

“She went ‘Yes, but Mummy you’ve got to go away and do all the things so we can do all our things,' ” she told BBC Radio 2. “I got off the phone and had a bath and had a big boo.”

While it continues to be hard to be away from her kid, Waddingham knows that she’s setting a strong example for her daughter.

“I’m learning to feel pride in my work and that can only be a positive thing to teach my daughter – just as I saw my mother working, my daughter now sees me, and so it continues,” she told Glamour UK.

She chose one of the star's for Waddingham's Christmas special

Waddingham's AppleTV+ Christmas special, Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, featured a special guest star chosen by her daughter, she said during a December 2023 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

"I wanted to give her the opportunity to choose one of the guests for my special," she said. "Literally, before I finished my sentence, she went, 'LESLIE ODOM JR., MUMMY!' "

Waddingham warned her daughter that she wasn't sure if they'd be able to get him since he was "probably busy doing a show," but the little girl's Christmas wish came true and the actor did join the performance.

She made Waddingham’s purse for the 2024 SAG Awards

Waddingham was a proud mom at the 2024 SAG Awards when she showed off her daughter’s design skills in one of her accessories.

The actress carried a cardboard clutch purse made by her kid with the word “epic” written on it, decorated with plenty of rainbow colors, to match her Tony Ward Couture look for the night.

"My daughter wanted to contribute, so she’s made me a bag," she said on Netflix's red carpet preshow.