Strictly Come Dancing star Sarah Hadland has spoken out on speculation she has been given special treatment over the course of the BBC series.

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola during Strictly’s semi-final. (Image: BBC)Strictly Come Dancing star Sarah Hadland has spoken out amid claims she is embroiled in a “favouritism row”. Some unhappy viewers have speculated whether there is a “game plan” to give the Miranda star special treatment in order to get her to the final.

Last week, some fans argued that Sarah, 53, had an unfair advantage by dancing to Popular from Wicked just as the highly-anticipated film adaptation was released in cinemas.

Some naysayers have also quibbled about her being partnered with last year’s winning professional, Vito Coppola. The Italian dancer won the 2023 series with Coronation Street’s Ellie Leach and reached the 2022 final with Fleur East.

Hitting back at the unfounded claims, Sarah told The Telegraph: “If anyone had a game plan for me, then they wouldn’t pair me with last year’s winner because he’s unlikely to win twice in a row, isn’t he?

“And on Musicals Week we were actually planning to dance to We Both Reached for the Gun from Chicago. I love Chicago!

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola performed to Popular from Wicked. (Image: BBC)“But at the last minute the BBC decided we couldn’t do a song with gun in the title with all the kids watching. So, our Wicked dance was very far from a strategic move.”

Throughout the competition, Sarah repeatedly cleared up confusion about her dancing background after it sparked discussions about whether she possesses an unfair advantage.

Her mother was a trained ballerina, and Sarah took ballet classes as a child but says she “wasn’t very good”. She also took tap and jazz classes and was enrolled in a performing arts school at age 16.

Sarah told the Mirror: “I’ve never done any ballroom. I’ve never done any Latin in my life, and it’s completely different to any of those disciplines.

“But I did do shows in the West End. I did musical theatre, where there was singing and dancing. But quite early on, I decided I wanted to act.”

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola fought for a place in the Strictly final. (Image: BBC)

On Saturday night, Sarah and Vito fought for a place in the Strictly final. Their first dance, a Tango to Big Love by Fleetwood Mac, was praised for being “full of fire and passion”.

The judges’ comments on their Jive to the Pointer Sisters’ I’m So Excited were mixed. Craig commended Sarah’s “energy and excitement,” but Anton was critical of timing issues and said the dance was “a little hard in the legs”.

Nevertheless, both dances received a good score of 36, putting Sarah and Vito in the middle of the leaderboard.

Strictly Come Dancing: The Results airs 7.20pm on BBC One.