Strictly's Sarah Hadland's forgotten role as a Bond Girl opposite Daniel Craig

Actress Sarah Hadland, who is best known for her role as Stevie Sutton in BBC's Miranda, has been showing off her moves on the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom every weekend

Sarah Hadland, best known for her role as the eccentric Stevie Sutton in BBC's Miranda, has been lighting up the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor every weekend. Sarah has had minor roles in several films, with perhaps her most notable being the Ocean Sky receptionist opposite 007 Daniel Craig in the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace, reports OK!.

In a 2015 interview with the Daily Mail, Sarah reminisced about her often-overlooked role and her encounter with James Bond. She revealed: "When I auditioned for the role of 'pretty clerk' in the 2008 Bond film Quantum Of Solace there were lots of models and I thought, 'Well, I'm obviously not going to get this!'

She added: "So I was very relaxed. I was on holiday in Beijing when I was told I'd got it, and I still can't believe I did it. I only had three lines but I like to call myself a Bond girl now! This is me with Daniel Craig on set. He was absolutely charming and quite jokey, and has extraordinary ice-blue eyes."

That same year, Sarah joined the panel on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two to discuss the show. Now, Sarah is a star on Strictly in her own right. Before making her debut on the show, the actress expressed her excitement, saying, "I couldn't believe it when offered the opportunity to join Strictly Come Dancing's latest instalment."

Sarah couldn't hide her enthusiasm as she confessed: "I feel particularly excited to be part of such an iconic show in its 20th year." She added: "I'm so ready for the glitz, glam and glitter and hopefully, I can make everyone watching at home proud!"

Since leaving her mark on the beloved series Miranda, Sarah has kept herself busy with a string of TV roles including appearances in Murder, They Hope and Daddy Issues. She also shone as Trish, the job centre manager, in ITV's comedy The Job Lot, sharing the screen with stars like Sophie McShera from Downton Abbey, Russell Tovey of Being Human, and Nick Mohammed from Ted Lasso. A familiar face from the original cast of CBBC's Horrible Histories, Sarah also made waves in BBC One's hit school drama Waterloo Road back in 2011, where she played Linda Radleigh, the new Head of English who won over students with her laid-back approach to teaching.

But now, she's traded her acting chops for dancing shoes, having joined the star-studded Strictly Come Dancing line-up last month, competing alongside punk icon Toyah Willcox, Olympic swimmer Tom Dean, and Love Island alum Tasha Ghouri, who once dated ex-Strictly pro Giovanni Pernice. However, Sarah's journey on Strictly hasn't been without controversy; critics have raised eyebrows after an old interview surfaced with Alex Kingston discussing Sarah's background as a trained ballerina, sparking debate over whether she has an unfair edge in the competition.

Sarah clarified the confusion surrounding her dancing background, noting it's actually her mum Jill who's the trained ballet dancer. "My mum was a ballet dancer," Sarah elaborated. Despite taking ballet classes, Sarah admitted she wasn't particularly skilled: "I did ballet the same way that most little girls do, at the local scout hut, and I wasn't very good!"

She conceded having studied modern and tap and later adding ballet and jazz in musical theatre college. Nonetheless, Sarah was firm in stating, "I've never done any ballroom. I've never done any Latin in my life, and it's completely different to any of those disciplines. But I did do shows in the West End. I did musical theatre, where there was singing and dancing, but quite early on, I decided I wanted to act."