Can Ted Lasso Star Hannah Waddingham Really Sing?

Apple TV+'s breakout hit "Ted Lasso" tells the story of a former American football coach who takes on an English Premier League coaching gig for which he is wildly unequipped. But Ted's inexperience on the pitch isn't the point. Rather, the series zeroes in on the relationships that Ted (played by Jason Sudeikis) forms with his players, AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), kit man Nate the Great (Nick Mohammed), model-turned-consultant Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), and others. The result is a heart-warming story that's packed with soccer puns, tea-slinging, shortbread biscuits, and coaching mishaps. Oh, and some pitch-perfect singing on the part of Waddingham.

Viewers first hear about Rebecca's singing chops when her childhood friend Flo Collins (aka Sassy) asks Ted if he's ever heard her sing before, according to ScreenRant. Then, we hear Rebecca perform Frozen's "Let It Go" at a karaoke bar, after she's (playfully) peer-pressured to do so by Sassy. It's a turning point for the football club owner — a moment when viewers see her come into her own after long being bullied by her ex-husband, Rupert Mannion. Per Decider, Rebecca next breaks into song midway through Season 2 when she sings an impromptu version of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" with fellow Londoners. While we already know Rebecca has range based on her "Frozen" performance, the fact that the character has multiple singing-specific scenes begs the question: Can Waddingham really sing?

Yes, it really is Hannah Waddingham singing in "Ted Lasso." Music and performance are in the actor's blood, as Town & Country reports that her mother and her maternal grandparents were opera singers. Though she never had formal singing lessons, Waddingham has a four-octave range, which she attributes to watching her mom perform at the Royal Coliseum, per The Mirror. "I'd sit in the stalls ... listening and soaking everything up like a sponge. That's the best way of learning," she said. A veteran of musical theater, the "Ted Lasso" star has received three Laurence Olivier Award nominations for her work on the London stage, and even tried her hand at pop stardom with the hit, "Our Kind of Love" in 2000.

For fans who are unfamiliar with Waddingham's singing background, "Ted Lasso" co-creator Bill Lawrence cleared things up with an Instagram BTS of the actor belting out "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." "For those who asked if that was really @hannah_waddingham singing," Lawrence captioned the video. "Wow. Her voice is okay, I guess." Her voice is so good in fact, that the singing was built-in for her character, despite Waddingham's reluctance to perform. When she complained about the technical difficulty of "Let It Go" to Jason Sudeikis, "he goes, 'Okay, you find me a song that's better for your character,'" Waddingham recalled to EW. I was like, 'Fine, I will!' Unfortunately, he [knew] exactly what he's doing and had chosen the right song."

Surprising no one, Hannah Waddingham's singing in "Ted Lasso" was well received by viewers and critics. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly's "The Awardist" podcast, Waddingham said that the writers of "Let It Go" reached out to her in a show of support. "[They] said that they loved it and that's how they imagined it!" she told the outlet. "Which, as a musical theater girl, was just insane." Waddingham's acting in the show has also been lauded, and she's received several awards for her work as Rebecca Welton, including an Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actress In a Comedy Series."

Though she gets a thrill from working alongside big names like Jason Sudeikis — and Lena Headey, with whom she starred in "Game of Thrones" — music will always be Waddingham's first love. "I realized pretty quickly that I didn't want to do straight theater, I also didn't just want to be a singer. What I wanted to do was albums and be a singer in [a] big band," Waddingham shared with Rose & Ivy, reflecting on the beginning of her career. Now that she's conquered stages and TV screens on both sides of the Atlantic, the star wants to expand her boundaries with a new role. "All the Marvel characters are magnificent," Waddingham told Variety in February. "I want to be one that absolutely busts everyone's balls but looks fabulous doing it." Whatever she does next, let's hope we get to see her perform at least one musical number.