The onscreen pals offered a different take on female friendship and offscreen they remain close(Image: BBC)

Inside Strictly Come Dancing star Sarah Hadland's 'lifelong' bond with Miranda Hart

Sitcom Miranda was a huge success, making stars of Miranda Hart and Sarah Hadland. Strictly star Sarah wasn't sure they'd be pals offscreen but turns out she was wrong...

by · The Mirror

Actress Sarah Hadland is riding high on Strictly Come Dancing thanks to her moving tribute to the late Dame Maggie Smith.

The star, 53, took to the dance floor with pro partner Vito Coppola dressed as Maggie's Harry Potter character Professor Minerva McGonagall, performing a Viennese Waltz to Hedwig's Theme from the film. The couple's routine went down a storm, winning them 33 points, putting them joint second on the dance contest leaderboard.

Sarah said it had been an honour to pay tribute to one of her "biggest inspirations" while Vito said the dance had been "just magical". The actress is best known for her role as joke shop manager Stevie Sutton on BBC sitcom Miranda. Stevie is the best friend of Miranda, with the lead role played by the show's creator Miranda Hart.

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The show became a huge success, switching from BBC Two to BBC One in the course of its run( Image: BBC/Gary Moyes)

The show, which saw awkward Miranda constantly get herself into funny situations, lasted from 2009 until 2015 and Sarah admits that initially, she didn't think the two stars would get on. "I hadn't been to university or drama school," she told the Observer in 2013. "I was told a gazillion times: 'You will not be an actress'.

"I remember looking her up on the internet and thinking: 'We have nothing in common, you're posh'." Thankfully, the W1A star couldn't have been more wrong and she quickly became firm friends with Miranda, 51. "I feel lucky to have done a job that has given me a good friend for life," Sarah told The Sun.

Call The Midwife's Miranda was reunited with Sarah on BBC's The One Show sofa this week, sharing the lovely news she had got married. 'I'm married, I got married at 51 and it's just so lovely!," said the comedian. 'It wasn't until I was 49 that I met my person.

Show creator Miranda has got married and says she had the "best fun" doing so( Image: BBC)

'It's a little undercurrent in the book," she added. "I'm not going to reveal how we met because that's a little bit of a twist. He's my best friend, we had the best fun and I'm just thrilled to be a young bride at 51."

Horrible Histories original cast member Sarah has previously spoken of the onscreen friendship of characters Miranda and Stevie. "That relationship between Stevie and Miranda is really unique and special – it was always her [Miranda's] goal to find a relationship that reflected everything that was good in a female friendship," said Sarah of her writing pal.

"We've given them an alternative to all the perfect women that they see on television, who look perfect and do everything perfectly. If you don't look like a model and you haven't got all the men crawling at your feet you're a disaster. We sort of show that we get everything wrong but we have a brilliant laugh."