BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Sarah Hadland in floods of tears - 'nowhere to escape'

Strictly Come Dancing’s Sarah Hadland spoke of how getting into character reduced her to tears and left her feeling like she couldn’t get away from the feelings it invoked

Actress and Strictly star Sarah Hadland throws herself into all the roles she plays but she revealed how a recent one in particular was "incredibly challenging" because of its secretive and taboo subject matter.

Viewers of Strictly Come Dancing were reduced to tears after actress Sarah Hadland dedicated a moving performance on the BBC talent show to legendary actress Dame Maggie Smith, who sadly passed away just a week before, aged 89. As part of Movie Week, Sarah and her professional partner Vito Coppola took to the stage and danced a Viennese Waltz to John Williams’ Hedwig’s Theme.

The Harry Potter -themed performance was a beautiful nod to Dame Maggie’s role as Professor McGonagall in the iconic franchise, with Sarah dressed as her "idol". The actress is no stranger to playing different characters and is probably best known as Stevie Sutton in BBC comedy Miranda.

The role was very different from one the 53 year old played earlier on in the year which she found often reduced her to tears. Sarah played Phillipa in Broken Water, a play which ran for almost a month at London’s Arcola Theatre from January to February. "It’s incredibly challenging," she told the Express at the time. "A play like this really pushes you, there is nowhere to escape. I think because the subject matter is sometimes quite tough, you find yourself welling up."

The play covered the difficult topics of the pain of miscarriage, abortion and infertility. It was told from the perspective of three different women living on the same street, with their own experiences surrounding having children, or not being able to. Sarah’s character Philippa, is a fifty-something mother of three who gave up her career to stay at home and it’s something which really resonated with the actress. "I don’t think I know a mother that doesn’t have mum’s guilt," she said. "I think often you are a better mother for working. You have to accept that things will be sacrificed along the way. It’s not going to be perfect."

She said she was drawn to the play because it is an all-female production. It was written by a woman - Michèle Winstanley - had a female director and stage manager and starred three female actresses. The subject matter, although challenging, was also one Sarah felt it was important to address.

"A lot of the topics like abortion, miscarriage and IVF in it are taboo. Then they become shameful and secretive and people don’t feel they can talk about it," she said. Despite the difficult themes, she revealed there was still a comic and light element. "You can see the sadness but also the funny side. It’s not all bleak," she said.

The production received glowing reviews and was applauded by Sarah's fellow actors. Comedian Kathy Burke described the show as: "A moving, powerful play that stayed with me," while Men Behaving Badly and Doc Martin star Martin Clunes found himself overcome with emotion. "Broken Water is really fantastic. I hope no one noticed that my eyes were watering,” he said.

Who do you think will win this year's Strictly? Let us know in the comments below.