Tis the season for holiday cheer, and no one brings that to TV quite like Hannah Waddingham in her Apple TV+ special, Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, which hit the streamer over Thanksgiving week. In her stunning red and gold gowns and a cape as white as the driven snow, Waddingham delivers lush vocals and suped-up arrangements of holiday classics from the London Colosseum, where her mother performed as an opera singer for years.
A West End darling who made an early splash as the Lady in the Lake in Spamalot, Waddingham is best known to American audiences as Rebecca Welton, the fabulous owner of AFC Richmond in Ted Lasso. And nearly all of her Ted Lasso castmates join her on or backstage for her special. The show offers several treats in the way of guest stars, including Waddingham singing “Please Come Home for Christmas” with Tony winner for Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. But Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas is also a giant love letter to LGBTQ+ people, and that’s just the way Waddingham intended it.
Among the queer folks who show up in the special are her friend Luke Evans, the Fabulous Lounge Swingers comprised of Scott Baker and Patrick Davey, and the entire London Gay Men’s Chorus.
“More than anything, I wanted it to be an absolute celebration of the LGBTQ community, because of being a patron of the London Gay Men's Chorus and the fact that they are absolutely magnificent musicians. And my beloved friends Scott Baker and Patrick Davey, the Fabulous Lounge Swingers, who, without doubt, are the most successful, loving marriage. They got married about 10 years ago. They are two of my daughter's godparents,” Waddingham tells the Advocate Channel.
She added, “I needed to have representation of the LGBTQ community showing it’s not all about flounce or about glitter and whatever — that they are beautiful people that I would never be without.”
Luke Evans and Hannah Waddingham in Hannah Waddingham: Home for ChristmasCourtesy Apple TV+“I am a kindred spirit with the whole LGBTQ community. I find there is something about people whose desire in life to be who they are is suppressed by others,” she continues. “I find it utterly appalling and anything that I can do to highlight the beauty of the souls that I have around me from the LGBTQ community, I will do it always.”
Watch the full interview below. Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas is streaming now on Apple TV+.
Luke Evans and Hannah Waddingham in Hannah Waddingham: Home for ChristmasCourtesy Apple TV+
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