ITV The Voice star Hannah Waddingham's chronic health condition after being 'left screaming'

The Game of Thrones actress admitted her struggle during an interview

Hannah Waddingham is one of the nation's most beloved actresses, but struggles with a chronic condition in her personal life. The 50-year-old Games of Thrones and Ted Lasso star, who is joining Tom Jones on ITV show The Voice tonight as his special guest judge, revealed she had developed 'chronic claustrophobia' after filming traumatic scenes.

The actress opened up about her struggles after playing Septa Unella, the stern-faced nun infamous for chanting "Shame!" during Cersei Lannister's walk of atonement. Talking on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, she disclosed the lasting impact of filming that harrowing scene.

She revealed the torturous moments her character endured at the hands of Cersei Lannister led to her experiencing the distressing phobia. After being asked if she did any of her own stunts on the show, Waddingham said that the show once required her to undergo “ten hours of being actually waterboarded”.

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“I’m strapped to a table with all these leather straps,” she told Colbert of the scene where Cersei ties her down and repeatedly pours wine on her face. “I couldn’t lift up my head because it would be too obvious that it was loose.

"I had grape juice all in my hair so it went purple, I couldn’t speak because The Mountain had his hand over my mouth while I was screaming and I had strap marks all over me like I’d been attacked."

Hannah was in a relationship with Italian businessman Gianluca Cugnetto for a decade and they had a daughter in 2015, whom Waddingham has raised as a single mother since 2023.