Ever been afraid of something and bizarrely fascinated by it at the same time? That was Sarah Hadland and Strictly Come Dancing for more than a decade.
She watched it religiously. Had a WhatsApp group with Miranda Hart and Clare Balding, where they’d meet up every year for the final. Rules were simple: nobody talks during the dances. She was that level of fan.
But when producers kept asking her to actually compete? Hard no. Every single time.
Then 2024 rolled around, and something shifted. Maybe it was her mate, Sian Gibson giving her a proper talking to. Maybe she just got tired of saying no. Whatever it was, she finally agreed.
Good job she did. On 14 December, she reached the final, where she was runner-up to Chris McCausland. Not bad for someone who spent 15 years hiding from the show.
The Woman Behind Stevie
Most people know Sarah Hadland as Stevie from Miranda. You know, the tiny one who worked in the joke shop. How old is Sarah Hadland? She’s 53, born 15 May 1971 in St. Albans. And she’s properly fed up with people going on about her age.
She trained in dance from three years old. Went to Laine Theatre Arts College. Started doing West End shows like Cats and Grease at 19 before moving into telly and theatre.
Miranda was the big one, though. That series, which aired from 2009 to 2015, was the one that made her famous. The height stuff between her (5ft 1in) and Miranda Hart (6ft 1in) became part of the comedy. They’re still mates, too, which is great because Hart once turned up on her during Strictly rehearsals in a costume as a fake choreographer with a small dog. Very on brand.
She’s done other stuff. The Job Lot on ITV. Horrible Histories. That Mitchell and Webb Look. A receptionist bit in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace. Theatre gigs such as Noises Off at the Garrick in 2019. She’s been at it for years.
The Strictly Thing Nobody Expected
Paired with Vito Coppola (last season’s winner), she scored 30 in week one for their quickstep to Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5. Highest quickstep score ever in the first week. They never faced the dance-off. Not once.
By the final, they’d amassed 118 points for three dances. Earned a perfect 40 for their cha-cha to Madonna’s Like A Prayer. Chris McCausland won, which was amazing because he was the programme’s first blind contestant and his story was quite moving. But she came bloody close.
The training was mental. Seven to eight hours a day, sometimes more. At the beginning of every Monday, she always told herself there was no way she could pull it off. Tea before every show. Five minutes of silence in her dressing room. Brazil nuts and peanut butter to fuel up. Then, in front of millions, she was doing choreography that she’d learned five days earlier.
“I thought I knew what my limits were, and I feel like I’ve learned that that’s not the case,” she said at the Pride of Britain Awards in October. “When you get to a certain point in your life, you think you know what YOU’re capable of.”
Turns out she had no clue what she could actually do.
The Age Comments She’s Done With
Being 53 on Strictly meant constant questions about her age. She got sick of it pretty quickly.
“I would love for my age not to be commented on,” she told the Evening Standard in November. “Rather than go on about it, I’d rather just show what I can do. We need to change this narrative of women having a shelf life.”
She’s right, though. “I know loads of my age who are really fit and active, they don’t drop off the ends of the Earth. We just need to be more visible.”
Her relationship with fitness has changed, too. “When I was young, I exercised because I wanted to be thin, and that’s an appalling goal. Now I exercise because I want to be strong and capable, I want my child to see me fit and healthy and because it helps my mental health.”
She’s run two London Marathons in under four hours. Her paternal grandfather was a reserve runner for the British Olympic team, so maybe that helps.
The Private Life She Actually Keeps Private
Is Sarah Hadland married? No. Is Sarah Hadland in a relationship? Nobody knows because she doesn’t share that stuff. Fair enough.
Some dodgy websites claim Sarah Hadland’s husband is Ben Willbond or Michael Elphick. Complete rubbish. There’s no verified information about sarah hadland partner and child anywhere. She’s never confirmed any relationship publicly.
What we know is she’s a mum. Sarah Hadland’s daughter stays completely out of the spotlight. No name, no photos, nothing. During Strictly week four, she dedicated her foxtrot to Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish to her daughter.
“This song is special to us because we sing it together,” she said, getting properly emotional about it.
Vito referred to her as “one of the strongest women I’ve ever met in my life,” and said he’s a single mum juggling it all. “You’re going through so many things, you are a single mum, and you are a woman, and you’re independent, and you work so hard,” he told her ahead of the final.
She resides in a converted stable in Blackheath, southeast London. “We have a farmers’ market and an annual street party. I love the village feel,” she told The Times in 2019. “I found my house while traipsing behind my dad, telling him, ‘Don’t be ridiculous, I’ll never be able to afford Blackheath.’ We promptly came across this house.”
She shares it with her daughter and a ginger cat called Percy. Vito became obsessed with Percy during rehearsals. “Finally, I met Percy, and I love him,” he posted on Instagram. “It took about half an hour to meet each other, but in the end, we had our bond.”
What Comes Next
The Strictly Come Dancing live tour begins in Birmingham on 17 January 2025. She’ll be doing just that, as she travels to venues across the UK before concluding in London’s O2 Arena in February.
Besides that, she’s been filming Midsomer Murders. Beyond that, she’s been spotted filming Midsomer Murders. There’s talk of creating a dance sitcom with Car Share writer Tim Reid. Maybe more Miranda if Hart decides to do it. Nothing’s confirmed.
Right now, though, she’s just riding the wave. She faced something that scared her for 15 years. She proved she could do it at 53 when everyone kept banging on about her age. And she managed to do all of it while being a single mum and keeping her personal life entirely to herself.
Pretty impressive when you think about it. And it definitely puts a dent in that whole shelf life nonsense people keep going on about.
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