Hannah Waddingham reveals she had concerns when filming the first season of Ted Lasso as she says she 'didn't think the show knows what it is'

Hannah Waddingham has revealed she had concerns when filming the first season of Ted Lasso during her appearance on The Graham Norton Show.

In Friday night's pre-recorded episode, Hannah was joined by Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin, Jorja Smith as well as one very important guest – The Prince Of Wales.

For the first time ever on the chat show, William walked out on stage to joyful cheers and gasps as host Graham chatted to Hannah about her TV projects. 

Prior to his royal appearance, Hannah, 52, discussed filming Apple TV's Ted Lasso and admitted she didn't think the show was going to become what it has. 

Hannah, who plays Rebecca Welton in the series, said: 'I thought it had so, so stopped but hoped they would bring it back and with a women's team. 

'When we made the first season I said, "I don't think this show knows what it is". But when it came out something amazing had happened in the edit and it was genius. 

'It is beautiful, positive, and very funny.'

Ted Lasso garnered 283 million viewing hours and tells the story of an American football coach who is hired to manage a British soccer team.

Meanwhile, the attention swiftly turned towards William as he spoke about his family's love of Celebrity Traitors, his thwarted ambition to be a DJ, Aston Villa, Christopher Nolan and the Earthshot Prize.

As William took to Graham's sofa he spoke about BBC's The Celebrity Traitors, saying: 'I love it, the family love it. Charlotte and Louis are obsessed with it. It's really good telly.'

He humorously added: 'I saw Ross Kemp the day after the first episode and I couldn't help but try – in the most appropriate way – to touch him to see what reaction I got from him. Turns out he was really jumpy!' 

William spoke about what he would be if he were not set to be king, and said that he would have been a police officer or a DJ.

He said: 'I did want to be a policeman when I was younger, I thought I could make a good one. And then I went through a phase of wanting to be a DJ – I wasn't very good.'

When it came to switching off, he revealed that he uses 'music and film' to wind down: 'I love getting immersed in deep-thinking films. I like action films too, but I like something a bit different.

'I'm a big fan of everything Christopher Nolan does. His films are are fantastic – The Dark Knight series is psychologically dark and deep and I absolutely love that.

'He takes concepts that are completely out there and makes them incredibly entertaining.'

By the end of the episode, he helped Graham judge who should be tipped off the famous Big Red Chair – a comical section of the show where brave guests tell their funniest stories.

But much of William's conversation focused on the origins of the Prize as well as pairing a need for urgency and optimism when it comes to tackling climate change.

When asked about how The Earthshot Prize came about, he said: 'For many years I was hearing stories about environment issues and one thing that struck me was the negativity and doom which got me down.

'I thought we could do something more powerful and more optimistic and the idea of an awards' ceremony came about and we could talk about urgency and optimism together. It's all about getting excited.

'There are some amazing people out there doing things to protect the world. We could really highlight what is being done and scale them to the next level to have more impact around the world.'

He also highlighted the Prize's role in identifying and supporting innovators around the world and helping them scale solutions for greater impact.

The Prince emphasised that climate change cannot be tackled by a single person or initiative and explained why Earthshot can bring together a global coalition of innovators, investors and advocates.

Cate, who is an Earthshot Prize Council Member, called the initiative a 'tapestry of solutions' while Ms Waddingham, who hosted the prize's 2023 awards in Singapore, commended the support given to finalists and its ability to connect innovators with the expertise, networks and investment needed to grow their impact.

Earthshot Prize Global Ambassador Irwin, son of late Australian wildlife expert Steve, spoke about Earthshot's role in inspiring young people and building a new generation of environmental advocates.

The show, which also featured a performance from singer Jorja, will be aired on BBC One at 10.40pm on Friday.