Hannah Waddingham Finds Love with Handsome Surgeon!

has found love again for the first time since the end of her long-term relationship with Gianluca Cugnetto eight years ago.

The star, 51, decided to focus on herself and being a mother to their daughter Kitty, now 11, before 'sticking my head above the parapet' and returning to the dating scene.

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

On Wednesday night, 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 .

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

He kickstarted 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. 

Hannah became a single mother after her relationship with her partner Gianluca broke down when their daughter was two, and since then, she has remained focused on her life with Kitty.

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.'

Hannah has previously explained how she herself a single mother to her daughter.

'In that moment, your career could falter because you're left holding the baby,' Hannah admitted of how single parenthood affected her.

'[But] I found in myself a strength. I thought, 'No, I'm not going to sit in the corner with a duvet over my head and think, oh, poor me'. I'm going to come out fighting because I know that I have so much to give in my career…

'I talk about [single motherhood] all the time because it's not the same as two parents. I know that sounds ridiculous and obvious, but I think people forget it.

'People go, 'Oh yes, I'm by myself most of the time'. But that's not the same as being sole provider. She is undoubtedly my greatest achievement because of that.'

The actress was left terrified eight years ago when her daughter, who was three years old at the time, suddenly fell ill and had to be admitted to hospital.

Kitty was suddenly diagnosed with auto-immune disorder Henoch-Schönlein purpura.

The diagnosis led Hannah to take a step back from acting, and in particular any roles that took her far away from home.

It was around this time that Hannah said she manifested the Ted Lasso role, asking the universe for a job that would .

Two months later she had her first meeting for the part of Rebecca, which would end up being filmed just half an hour from her home.

Hannah previously revealed that she's too busy and too picky to start dating again but added that if she were to get back on the dating market she would .

She told Michelle Visage on the Rule Breakers podcast: 'I'm a pretty picky girl really and have such a very specific kind of criteria of things.

'One of the main things with guys, just come on man, positivity - positivity and charisma and I'm your gal. But there's an awful lot of misogs (miserable old gits) out there. I don't need it.'

She added: 'I don't go much on stereotypical cutey pie, whatever, sexy, whatever.

'I want a guy that scoops me up and goes 'I've got you, I don't care if you've got your make-up on or not, I'm happy to lie in bed with you and have Marmite on toast and a glass of milk'.

'And just be a lovely positive, charismatic soul. I'm 50 and I'm like, 'Dude, if you are not going to step up, step off and be gone. Sod off until someone fabulous comes along'.'

She elaborated that she had clear deal breakers including bad kissers and a lack of eye contact.