Sarah Hadland: ‘It’s not too late for Craig to show favouritism’-Brooke Ivey Johnson-Entertainment – Metro

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola talk to Metro about their Strictly journey (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Sarah Hadland may have had a lucky turn of events being paired with last year’s Strictly Come Dancing winning professional Vito Coppola, but she’s quick to shut down any accusations of favouritism. 

‘I don’t think we’ve been shown any favoritism So it’s not too late for favouritism to be shown. And can you please tell Craig that favouritism needs to be shown?’ she jokes, as she catches up with Metro from the Strictly studio. 

Sarah, 53, has routinely wowed the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel, with her Argentine Tango earning a whopping 38 points serving as just one example. 

However, there was some controversy in the two 10-pointers handed out to Sarah, with a flubbed lift at the start of the dance holding the performance back from perfection.

Craig Revel Horwood was quick to pick up on the pair’s error, but ruled it ‘wonderful’ regardless – awarding their performance nine points.

The pair have been wowing the judges on the dancefloor (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)

Some fans have pointed out that perhaps this wasn’t necessarily fair, and the chorus of favouritism grew louder on musicals week, when the pair danced to a song from Wicked.

The movie adaptation of the musical was blowing up the box office at the time, which some fans felt gave the pair an advantage. 

But Sarah is quick to say that the couple actually had a major disadvantage on musicals week: Time. 

‘We were actually meant to dance to They Both Reach for the Gun from Chicago, and we had an amazing routine, fully choreographed by Matt Flynn. We were all due to rehearse that. We’d been sent the song. We listened to it. I was over the moon! I’d seen my outfit for it, the sketches for the outfit,’ she explained. 

Sarah was quick to dismiss the idea of any favouritism (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

‘It was all ready and then, literally, on the Saturday night, which is very, very late, we were told that compliance at the BBC were concerned about the use of the word gun. And there was a big mad scramble to see what they could get on a Saturday night during the live show,’ she continued. 

Vito chimes in, saying: ‘We based the entire number of our dance on the musical, not on the movie. And also, I mean, Strictly fans know that in the past year, Wicked has been done in musical week. Like last year, it was done by Annabelle.’

Sarah and Vito have an obvious easy banter (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

With the accusations of an unfair advantage thoroughly dispelled, Sarah reflects on how Strictly is brand new territory for her.

‘I mean, I have done a lot of studio sitcoms where you are working in front of a live studio audience, but you also have to split your brain because, you know, you have cameras very up close. But this is completely different, I would say, because the the fact that it’s going out live is massive for anybody to cope with,’ she explains with her trademark animation.

‘And it’s much bigger than a normal studio sitcom. And also, just the live audience are very vocal and so up for it. The atmosphere is incredible. The whole feeling of the show is just so hyped and excited, and it’s, yeah, it’s like being in a little mini rock concert,’ she concludes.

Soon, the pair slip into what is clearly a familiar rhythm of banter, joking about their average day of rehearsal, in which the pair take regular toast breaks during which Vito mops the floor and Sarah accidentally burns the toast.

Sarah outlines the routine: ‘I’m putting toast on the grill because we have a kitchen where we rehearse and Vito mops the floor. I put the toast on. He goes on to eggs. I then wander off and the toast burns. I get shouted at because the toast is burnt. I scurry back and deny that I was ever on toast.’

Sarah said Miranda’s dance tips were a big source of inspiration for the couple (Picture: BBC)

Vito laughs and nods, adding in: ‘And you first told me that I have to butter properly. That getting the butter everywhere is very important.’

After correcting Vito’s butter habit, the pair, ‘almost go through a tub of butter a week. Do you know that we actually do between the two of us? I’ve gotten Vito into salted butter, which is, I think, the British version of olive oil,’ Sarah explains.

And while Sarah wholeheartedly rejected Vito’s ‘dusty Italian biscuits,’ she does a pretty good impression of him asking in his Italian accent for her to bring him ‘chocolate covered lady fingers’ from the shops, making all three of us laugh.

It seems this playful camaraderie extends beyond the pair’s partnership, with Sarah emphasising how lovely all the competitors are and how they’re ‘like the least competitive group of people ever.’

Sarah thinks Miranda character Penny would be a Viennese Waltz (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)

She also says that while watching all the other pairs dance, she has plenty of time to think; for example, she answers immediately when asked which dance each character on Miranda would be represented by: ‘Penny would be the Viennese waltz, Miranda would be the jive. Stevie, well, obviously, the Charleston, obviously.’

When asked if the pair have taken any inspiration from Miranda, she earns a laugh from Vito by saying: ‘Yeah, we used all of Miranda’s tips in our choreography. Vito literally really studied her videos, and really, you know, really made sure that he took all her notes on board, even though some of her moves were very advanced, even for Vito.’

But things grow slightly more serious when the pair are asked about what they think about their finals chances, with Vito speaking up to say: ‘You don’t want to think too much further forward. Now is now.’

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