BBC Strictly Come Dancing Sarah Hadland's bond with 'amazing' Miranda Hart and moment she 'feared she was dying'

Actress Sarah Hadland says she's been asked "at least ten times" to take part in Strictly Come Dancing - but this year was finally the right time. And no pressure but she's been paired with Vito Coppola, who lifted the Glitterball Trophy in 2023 with Coronation Street's Ellie Leach.

Sarah is best known as comedian Miranda Hart’s best friend Stevie Sutton in BBC comedy Miranda. She's also starred in ITV sitcom The Job Lot as Trish Collingwood, the nervous and lovelorn manager of a job centre.

The 53-year-old's other credits include Daniel Craig James Bond film Quantum Of Solace, the comedy film Magicians, comedy Learners starring David Tennant, Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans, Comedy Central sitcom Brotherhood and BBC drama series The Moonstone. She's also worked extensively on stage - but Strictly is set to propel her back into the TV spotlight.

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Growing up in Cheshire

Sarah was born in London on May 15, 1971, but grew up in Cheshire and attended Wilmslow High School. Her mother was a teacher and her father a businessman.

Dancing talent runs in her family, with her mother “talent-spotted when she was a teenager by the Royal Ballet”. She danced the lead role in a BBC version of Alice in Wonderland, but eventually dropped out to work behind the glove counter at the London department store, where she met Sarah's father.

She began dancing at the age of three and while living in Wilmslow performed with the Scamps youth group for two years. She also joined Cheshire Youth Theatre and went on a two-week residential trip she said “changed my life".

She told the Independent: "We were doing all kinds of mask workshops, drama, dancing, music, singing, everything. I just immediately thought, this is what I want to do.”

Her parents split up when she was 11, which she told the Times was a "complete shock". She then left home at 16 and went to study musical theatre at Laine Theatre Arts in Surrey, something she says was only possible because she was from a single-parent family, so got a full grant to attend.

She said recently: "These things just wouldn’t have been possible [without it].”

Why she wiped her CV and auditioning for Miranda

Sarah's first performing job was as a magician’s assistant before hading to the West End, where she was dancing in the musicals Cats and Grease by 19.

However she was longing to move into acting after a part in a Birds Eye ad campaign made her seriously consider it. She said: “Even though I was 21, I was cast as a 14-year-old, and I was absolutely fuming, and argued a bit with my agent that I didn’t want to do it.

"The director was Mandie Fletcher, who directed Blackadder. It was quite a funny little character, and she said, ‘You should get into acting."

In an interview with Metro in 2013 she recalled: "I loved pouncing around in my Lycra pants, doing high kicks, but I wanted to do something I could contribute more to. With the musicals I did you didn’t have much creative input."

But it wasn't an easy journey for her. Speaking to the Observer, she recalled she was told a gazillion times ‘You will not be an actress.’” because she hadn't been to university or drama school - so she wiped musicals from her CV, did fringe theatre and bit parts in The Bill and Casualty, with her career doing voiceover work helping to keep her afloat.

She couldn't afford to retrain at drama school and worked for free in fringe plays to hone her skills. She recalls "huge snobbery towards musical theatre ‘twirlies’", but her determination eventually paid off.

She got her acting break after she filmed a comedy sketch “about a nasty therapist” for her show reel and auditioned for Miranda Hart's radio show, which turned into the hit TV series.

Close friendship with Miranda Hart

Sarah and Miranda's friendship seemed an unlikely one at first, with Sarah telling the Mail her initial thoughts were: "Oh, posh girl, stand-up comedian, been to university and the tallest person in the world. We have nothing in common."

But they gelled immediately, with Sarah saying: "Even at that audition, I instantly felt completely relaxed with her. She was eating some sweets, and I started taking them without asking. Something just clicked between us.

"We laugh at similar things, we’re both very close to our sisters and we’ve both developed weird languages we use to speak to them. I think she’s the most amazing person and we do actually say, “Love vooo!” to each other."

She said she "feels lucky" to have Miranda and her friend is "the best person in the world to go to for advice". And they've remained close in the eight years since filming ended on Miranda the sitcom.

Sarah told the BBC: "We speak all the time when we're not filming and meet up whenever we can. We do get a lot of attention if out together. We went to see Shrek and got mobbed at the interval - the theatre manager had to come and rescue us!"

Becoming a Bond girl

Sarah had a part in James Bond film Quantum of Solace as "Ocean Sky Receptionist" - and has joked she thought it was a mistake at first.

She told Metro: "I went to the audition and everyone else there was a model so I thought: ‘There’s been a huge error, I’m not supposed to be here.’

"But then they picked me – I was Ocean Sky Receptionist. I had to deal with a problem Bond had with his credit card."

Moment she feared she was 'dying'

Sarah once feared she was dying after noticing an unusual symptom during her dinner. She was rushed to hospital by ambulance in a terrifying ordeal for the star.

She suffered a severe allergic reaction in 2010 after purchasing two plaice fillets. She said she consumed the first fish with no issues, but started feeling unwell after eating the second.

Speaking to the Express in 2015, Sarah recalled: "It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced in my life. My lips started to swell up quite quickly and I was itching all over. I was on my own in the house and I rang my mum, who was in Manchester, on my mobile and said: 'I think something is happening to me'.

She ended up calling NHS Direct to explain her symptoms and was informed she was likely having an anaphylactic shock and that an ambulance was on its way.

And she said: "By then, I was struggling to breathe as it felt like the back of my throat was closing up. I feared I might be dying.

"If the ambulance crew hadn’t come so quickly it could have been a different story."

Tests later showed she was allergic to a specific protein in the flesh of white fish. She now carries an adrenaline pen with her and avoids eating white fish to prevent another anaphylactic shock.

Strictly parties, group chats and why she finally said yes

Of her upcoming Strictly stint, Sarah told the BBC: “I cannot believe I am part of Strictly. I feel particularly excited to be part of such an iconic show in its 20th year. I’m so ready for the glitz, glam and glitter and hopefully I can make everyone watching at home proud."

She told the Independent she has been a “super-fan of Strictly since it began”, even throwing “Strictly Come Hadders” parties for her friends in the past, dressing up former pro dancer Kristina Rihanoff).

She also revealed to Grazia that she's a member of WhatsApp groups dedicated to Strictly, saying: "There’s quite a hardcore WhatsApp group. Traditionally every year, there’s a group of us, including Patricia Hodge and Clare Balding, that all go to Miranda’s house to watch the final. It’s very strict - you're not allowed to talk during the dancing."

She said she's also in another Strictly group chat with Sian Gibson and James Lance from Ted Lasso, adding: "They've all been desperate for me to do it for years. Every year they’re like, "Come on do it."

She said she turned down previous overtures from show bosses because the timing was never right, adding: "When you’re a huge fan of a show, you kind of think, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to be in that."

And she's said: "With a show like this, you can’t do it because somebody else thinks you should or because you feel like it’s the right thing to do. A show like this is a massive commitment and I always feel, when I watch it, I don’t want to see people there who don’t really want to be there.

“I really wanted to do it this year. I turned it down quite a lot. I think I first got asked the year that Miranda went out which is a long time ago. My mum has also been badgering me and she was ecstatic."

An unfair advantage?

A big talking point among Strictly fans is always the amount of previous dance experience contestants have had. Among this year's cohort, Sarah and Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri, have trained in dancing in the past.

Her close friend, Doctor Who star Alex Kingston, previously said: "Sarah Hadland and I talked about how much we’d like to do Strictly Come Dancing. Then I discovered that she’s actually a trained ballet dancer. ‘Hang on a minute! That’s not fair!’ So, I can’t do it on a season when she is on it."

But Sarah has insisted she doesn't have an unfair advantage, telling Grazia her West End days were 35 years ago. She also likened getting to grips with ballroom and Latin as “learning a different language. You’ve got a bit of an advantage, because you’ve been able to learn another dance language, but actually, all the rules you’ve learnt don’t apply to this. They’re completely different."

Why she won't fall victim to 'Strictly curse'

Sarah has admitted to fancying her Strictly pro partner Vito but said she won't fall victim to the “Strictly Curse”, where contestants and celebrity partners fall for each other.

She told the Independent she doesn't have the “energy” for an affair, joking: “I’ll be honest – I can either do the dance or have an affair, but I can’t do both. I’m committed to the dance now.”

But she said Vito was “the cherry on the cake” to finally going on Strictly: “I’ve been a superfan of Strictly since it began. It’s incredible — everything, the costume . . . then Vito is the cherry on the cake!”

Personal life and interests outside work

Sarah has always kept her relationship status out of the public eye but away from work, she's shared that she collects modern art and is a keen runner.

When it comes to art she says "I simply buy what I love" - and she's also an accomplished runner who has completed two London Marathons.

She told the Times: "My paternal grandfather was a reserve runner for the British Olympic team, so I like to think it’s in my genes. I’ve completed two London Marathons in under four hours.

“The initial resistance to exercise is weird, but I make myself do it, then the endorphins kick in."