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English actress Emma Watson recently broke her silence about her driving ban. On Wednesday, the 35-year-old actress made an appearance on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast and spoke publicly for the first time about her temporary ban from driving.
According to People, the Harry Potter actress was barred from driving in the UK after a speeding violation. In July 2025, Watson was reportedly ordered to pay a fine and not to drive for six months after she was caught speeding.
When Jay Shetty asked Emma about what her day-to-day life looks like, the Little Women star revealed that she has picked up cycling as a hobby.
“I recently started riding a bicycle. Yes, I started riding a bicycle before my driving ban, but now it’s particularly fortuitous that I also ride a bicycle for that reason,” Emma Watson quipped.
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However, the actress joked that her interest in riding a bicycle came before her temporary driving ban. Meanwhile, when the host of On Purpose with Jay Shetty joked about how the news of her driving ban became “mainstream,” Emma Watson explained:
“Oh my god. I was getting phone calls like it's on the BBC. It's on international, worldwide news. I was like, ‘My shame is that it's everywhere.’”
According to a July 16 article published by the BBC, on the evening of July 31, last year, Emma Watson drove a blue Audi at 38mph in a 30mph zone in Oxford, England. The 35-year-old actress also reportedly had nine points on her driver's licence before she was caught in the speeding incident.
Watson was also ordered to pay a fine of £1,044 at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court. Meanwhile, the BBC also reported that the actress did not attend the court hearing at that time.
Emma Watson blames her work schedule for lacking “skills” in driving
During her appearance on the Wednesday episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, Emma Watson revealed that her driving ban got her the “sweetest result.”
“I think in a funny way, what the sweetest result of it was getting so many messages from people being like, ‘Happened to me too. I feel you. This is awful. It sucks.’ Which was kind of nice in a way,” the actress said.
Meanwhile, when speaking with the British-Indian podcaster and author, the actress explained that when she used to work on movies, she was not allowed to drive herself to work. She explained:
“When you work on movies — I don’t know if people know this — they literally will not insure you to drive yourself to work… You have to be driven. It’s not a choice. Especially because they need you there down to the minute, basically, depending on what they have going on.”
The actress, who reportedly shot to fame in 2001 with the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, continued:
“So I went from basically only driving myself on weekends or during holidays to then, when I became a student, driving myself all the time. And yeah, I did not have the experience or skills, clearly, which I now will and do.”
Meanwhile, Emma seemingly admitted to Jay Shetty that her driving ban was a “humbling” experience because, as an actor, she can do “extremely complex things”, like stunts, singing, and dancing.
For the unversed, Emma Watson last appeared in the 2019 remake of Little Women, which was directed by Greta Gerwig. The 35-year-old actress has starred in a total of eight Harry Potter films.
