Tuppence Middleton feels "really selfish as a parent with OCD" because she struggles to cope when her daughter is ill
The 'Downton Abbey' star has been battling obsessive-compulsive disorder - which causes uncontrollable repetitive behaviours and thoughts - for three decades, and she feels a "tremendous amount of guilt" at the measures she takes to get close to her and partner Mans Marlind's two-year-old child when offering her comfort when she's unwell, particularly because she doesn't want to pass her rituals on to the youngster
17 March 2025
She told MailOnline: "You feel really selfish as a parent with OCD because you want to be there and be able to cuddle them and have their face near you whenever they're ill ...
"I would be pretty panicky to deal with my child's sick, and I would use all of those things that I had - the rubber gloves, the bleach and the masks.
"There's a tremendous amount of guilt doing that, however, because I don't want to pass on those behaviours to her.
"But at the same time, that's your biggest fear to be that close to someone so it's really complicated as a thought process."
The 38-year-old actress also revealed she got "really anxious" when she had an on-screen love interest and would repeatedly question the actors she had to kiss to make sure they were not ill.
She admitted: "I asked them, even if they looked tired and pale, because it was five in the morning when we were filming, and I was like, 'Do you feel okay? How do you feel? Is it in your stomach?'
"But now I play less of those love interest roles so it's less of a problem."
However, the 'Fisherman's Friends' actress now feels comfortable telling co-stars about "this particular anxiety".
She said: "But now I feel more able to speak to my co-star and say, I have this particular anxiety and if at any point you or anyone in your family, someone that you are close to, gets a vomiting bug you have to tell me, please, because I have this huge anxiety around it.
"That was really difficult and I found that job quite anxiety-inducing."
© 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity