BBC Strictly Come Dancing’s Sarah Hadland faces ‘mental battle’ as she makes heartbreaking ‘confidence’ admission

Strictly Come Dancing star Sarah Hadland has admitted the show is like a “mental battle” as she made a heartbreaking admission about her confidence.

The Miranda star’s sizzling rumba to Chains by Tina Arena scored 36 last night. It was the most any star has scored with a rumba this series.

But Sarah, 56, admits each new dance sends her “confidence through the floor” as she admits she “doesn’t know what she’s doing”. She says it is a stark contrast from her day job, where she says she has been around long enough to tackle any problems that could arise.

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When dancing though, Sarah admits she only knows the steps that professional partner Vitto Coppola has taught her that week. Speaking to The Sun, Sarah said: “Every week, when you start the dance, your confidence goes through the floor because you think, ‘I literally don’t know what you’re talking about’.

“Your mind’s really cruel. It tells you you can’t do it, you’re going to mess it up, you’re no good at this. I don’t know if other people find this, but as you get older, you have huge experience in your normal job.

“So, as an actor, I’m pretty confident, whatever happens, I can get out of it because I’ve got 30-odd years of experience. If I mess up on camera or on stage, I know how to fix it, and I know I will fix it innately. I don’t even need to think.

“I can’t do that with this, because I haven’t got any other steps except what Vito’s taught me. So it’s not like I can go, ‘I’ll do a pivot’. That’s really exposing, in a way. That’s the mental battle.”

Despite Sarah saying each week sends her confidence plummeting, it seems as though judges have been impressed with her moves. Head judge Shirley Ballas last night said her rumba deserved to be in a “major championship”.

Anton Du Beke agreed, saying it was one of her best performances, but Craig Revel Horwood thought it “lacked chemistry” amid the technique.