Hannah Waddingham reveals her battle with mum guilt over daughter Kitty, 12, while away working as she pushes back at being labelled 'camp'

Hannah Waddingham has opened up about her battle with mum guilt when work takes her away from her daughter Kitty.

The Ted Lasso star, 51, shares 12-year-old Kitty with her ex-partner, Italian hotel manager and businessman Gianluca Cugnetto.

Since their split, Hannah has been open about the challenges of being a single mum while juggling a hugely successful acting career, and has often described her daughter as her 'greatest achievement'.

Now, in a new interview, the actress revealed she had originally planned to step away from work for a bit after giving birth, but couldn't turn down the chance to star in Game of Thrones.

She recalled the emotional moment she filmed the infamous 'Walk of Shame' scene in the hit series just weeks after giving birth. 

As she performed the gruelling scene, she could hear her baby crying nearby, leaving her questioning her decision to return to work so soon.

'And I just thought, oh my God, what am I doing?' she told The Guardian.

While one part of her knew she was working and providing for her family, another part struggled with being separated from her daughter.

Even today, Kitty is nearly a teenager, yet Hannah still feels guilty when she has to work.

'I'm about to go away to do press for the next season of Ted Lasso, and the mummy guilt descends,' she added.

Hannah has held off returning to theatre because of the demanding schedule, saying she doesn't think her daughter is ready for the time apart that would come with performing eight shows a week.

Elsewhere in the interview, Hannah opened up about her 'camp' label, saying she embraces the theatrical side of who she is but hopes people recognise there is more to her than her larger-than-life image. 

She said: 'I like these profiles, because it's important for people to see that, as with anyone else, there's light and there's shade.' 

It comes just a month after it was revealed that Hannah has found love again for the first time since the end of her long-term relationship with Gianluca.

The Ted Lasso star decided to focus on herself and being a mother to their daughter Kitty before 'sticking my head above the parapet' and returning to the dating scene.

That changed in May when she let slip on her love life, giggling that her new man is 'very good looking' and 'really lovely'.

Last month, the star looked smitten as she made her red carpet debut with Nick Beresford-Cleary at Variety Power Of Women event in London.

The actress hasn't officially named her new boyfriend, but back in March she fuelled romance rumours when she was pictured with Nick at Cheltenham Festival.

Nick is a Consultant Spine Surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and King Edward VII Hospital, who specialises in both elective and emergency spinal surgeries.

He kick-started his career with a degree in mechanical engineering from UCL, but then went into medicine. 

His training includes a Medical degree from Edinburgh University and specialist Trauma and Orthopaedic training in Oxford. 

He undertook fellowships in paediatric and complex adult spine surgery in Oxford and Vancouver, as well as an academic attachment at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. 

In May, she revealed she is in her first relationship after nearly a decade in her cover story interview with Women's Health UK.`

'It's taken me eight years,' Hannah admitted to the magazine, when asked about getting into a new relationship. 'I didn't really have the space mentally or emotionally for that.'

'I've hunkered down and focused on my girl and me. [But] now I'm ready to stick my head above the parapet a bit more.'

When asked if 'it's a very good-looking parapet,' Hannah laughed and confirmed 'it is!'

'And it's really lovely too, obviously, my relationship. But the best thing about it is, firstly, being happy and strong in myself.'

Hannah has never publicly revealed the reason for the end of her relationship with Italian hotelier Gianluca.

The actress had been with the father of her daughter for more than a decade and were rumoured to be engaged before they split.

However, she said at the time that their split 'felt like the rug was pulled from underneath me.'

'But I had to make the decision not to be weakened by it,' she told Glamour magazine. 'I distinctly remember feeling like my daughter and I were on an upturned dustbin lid, like a flying saucer, holding on for dear life – until the waters were calmer!'

Despite their relationship coming to an end, Hannah told the outlet that she was 'still on good terms with [her] daughter's father.'