There is no limit to what women my age can do... it's all about mindset

After starting her Strictly journey with a strong sense of her limitations, actor Sarah Hadland admits she has had a revelation.

- SARA WALLIS

The 53-year-old Miranda star approached the BBC show with caution but has crushed her expectations, becoming a firm favourite for the final.

From getting over her panic about bare legs to flying in the air in a cartwheel lift, she has had a change of heart.

Sarah, who has been producing stunning performances each week alongside professional dancer Vito Coppola, 32, now wonders why so many women set limits for themselves.

Sarah, who lives in London with her young daughter, says: "At the beginning, I felt I know myself really well. I'm the age I am. I know what I can do.

"I won't have anybody else tell me what I can do. I'm happy to push myself, but if you tell me I can do something, I'll say no, because I won't be told.

"I was setting limits without realising.

I thought, I'm quite a good dancer. I did a lot of dancing 30 years ago. I know what I can do', but in the same breath I was saying, 'This is what I can't do.

"When Vito would say, 'We're going to do this', I would say, 'No, I can't do it, I need to rest, I can't do that step.

"I thought I was being really assertive, but Vito was adamant that I could do it.

"If you'd told me the things I'd be doing, such as the lifts, I would have said 100% no. But I completely trust him - I mean, I let him push me backwards off a table at speed."

Sarah, dubbed Tigger along with Vito because they don't stop bouncing around and fidgeting, says her change of attitude about limiting herself has had a massive impact on her life.

She says: "I think a lot of women do that to themselves. And it still goes on for women of a certain age that people say, 'You can't do this'.

"But I think you also have to change your mindset, because if you say, 'This is my limitation' other people agree and it becomes something very solid.