Strictly's Sarah Hadland admits she had huge misconception about Miranda Hart

Sarah Hadland and her former Miranda co-star, the show's creator Miranda Hart, are firm friends nowadays but the Strictly contestant wasn't always so convinced about her future pal

The sitcom Miranda was a huge success, making stars out of actresses Miranda Hart and Sarah Hadland - but the latter had a surprising opinion of her co-star before they met.

Sarah, 53, is now competing on Strictly Come Dancing with pro partner Vito Coppola, with fans saying their magical foxtrot to Billie Eilish's Birds Of A Feather was undermarked last weekend.

The couple still managed to achieve 27 points and actress Sarah became emotional after her performance, explaining she sings the song at home with her young daughter.

Sarah and Vito are getting on like a house on fire and she also remains firm friends with her former co-star Miranda.

The women famously played best pals Stevie and Miranda in the much-loved BBC show, who constantly got themselves into funny situations.

But the Strictly star admits she thought they wouldn't get on in real life, telling the Observer in 2013: "I remember looking her up on the internet and thinking: 'We have nothing in common, you're posh'."

Sarah didn't attend university or drama school. "I was told a gazillion times: 'You will not be an actress'," she said. She went onto enjoy great success, with three years on cult comedy sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look.

"I was the only person on That Mitchell and Webb Look who hadn't been to Oxbridge," she said. "They were very sweet – just occasionally I'd get a clue on the cryptic crossword."

The W1A star became firm friends with Miranda, 51 and later told The Sun: "I feel lucky to have done a job that has given me a good friend for life".

She was recently reunited with the Call The Midwife star on the BBC's The One Show sofa, which saw Miranda share the news she had got tied the knot. '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.

'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," she said.

"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."