Jodie Whittaker is glad that she can finally reach out to Phoebe Waller-Bridge and apologise for all the 'Doctor Who' rumours she had to deal with in the run-up to the announcement of the thirteenth Doctor. Jodie was so under scrutiny that she couldn't so much as text her friend.

Jodie Whittaker snapped outside the ITV studiosJodie Whittaker snapped outside the ITV studios

The BBC always like to keep the identity of the next Doctor super secret until the right moment, which put a lot of pressure on Jodie Whittaker when she was told she was to take over from Peter Capaldi. She opened up about her big secret to Dermot O'Leary on BBC Radio 2 and apologised to her 'Broadchurch' co-star.

'It was just amazing that Phoebe Waller-Bridge had all that and she dealt with it all so amazingly and gracefully', Jodie said. 'At no point could I just text her and go, 'I'm so sorry' - because I was under the radar the entire time until the last few days.'

She couldn't even relax in her own home, worried that a passer-by might hear her talking about it through an open window. 'I told my husband - that doesn't count does it? - and I told my Mum. And then my Dad was furious!' She confessed. 'It was a full military operation - I basically whispered for three months. It was getting really tedious that even in my own kitchen I was still talking like that. If the window was open I'd get like, 'what have I said, what have I said?!''

More: David Tennant says Jodie Whittaker's gender is irrelevant 

Jodie, who will be the first ever actress to portray the Timelord, will make her first appearance in 'Doctor Who' with the Christmas special entitled 'Twice Upon a Time', which will be directed by Rachel Talalay. The episode will also mark the final appearance of Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts. We are yet to find out who will be playing the thirteenth Doctor's companion.