Hannah Waddingham Shuts Down Jason Sudeikis 'Rift' Rumors After 'Love-Hate' Comment Goes Viral
Rift? What rift? Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham is shutting down speculation about tension with co-starJason Sudeikis after her comments about an "ongoing love-hate relationship" were taken out of context.
What began as a remark about last-minute script changes quickly snowballed into a game of telephone online. Waddingham recently told Variety: "With that boy, you've got to roll with the punches. He and I have an ongoing love-hate relationship that he changes it last minute."
The quote was widely interpreted as evidence of friction on set, but in context she was describing the fast-moving, improvisational nature of working together on the series rather than any real conflict.
Waddingham shared in a now-expired Instagram story that "For the first time ever I am finding it necessary to silence the utter bollocks being written about a ‘rift' between me and my beloved, long-standing friend and acting partner Jason Sudeikis," via Entertainment Tonight. "Ridiculous, clickbait buuuuuulllls---!"
Adding, "Is it a quiet news day or something?! Get a life!!!"
In a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the pair repeatedly emphasized a collaborative, flexible working rhythm that underscores their on-set chemistry.
Sudeikis described the writing process as intentionally open-ended, saying, "We were really trying to use every part of the buffalo in the pilot," noting that he often builds in "seedlings" that evolve as scenes are performed.
Waddingham echoed that adaptability, explaining, "I'm used to how Jason and the guys work now… stopping and changing and tweaking and adjusting," even during filming. She also characterized the dynamic as creatively energizing rather than disruptive, adding that it produces "a more exciting, more guttural response on camera."
In fact, Waddingham says working with Sudeikis is an exercise in trying not to break character. "Imagine playing Rebecca, where I'm meant to be this stoic ice queen. Imagine doing scenes when Jason has got the cheeky little pixie going on in his eyes," she told People in 2021, reflecting on her character, Rebecca Welton. "He's a nightmare! And so is Nick Mohammed [Nate Shelley], to the point where in season two, when Nick Mohammed and I have to do scenes together, we have to slightly look off the side of each other's faces."
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This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 5:52 AM.