Sarah Hadland said competing on Strictly Come Dancing has made her realise she “put limits” on herself.
The British actress, who is most known for playing Stevie Sutton in BBC sitcom Miranda, will take to the floor on Saturday night for the show’s grand final.
Speaking at a press conference, the 53-year-old, who is partnered with Vito Coppola, reflected on being a finalist.
Asked whether it has sunk in yet, she said: “Not really, no.
“Because I was convinced we were going to be in that (semi-final) dance off.
“I said to you (Coppola), where do we go? Because we’ve never been in a dance off.
“And I was like, where do we go? Where will we warm up? I was so convinced.”
Coppola said that when co-host Tess Daly announced they had been saved they “did not expect it at all”.
The semi-final results programme on Sunday saw reality star Pete Wicks and his dance partner Jowita Przystal voted off the show after the judges chose to save Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec.
Hadland and Coppola will be competing in the final on Saturday alongside Ghouri, comedian Chris McCausland and JLS singer JB Gill – with their respective partners.
All of the finalists will perform three dances with Hadland and Coppola opting to dance their American smooth to Proud by Heather Small, a show dance to Cabaret by Metropole Orkest, and their cha cha to Like A Prayer by Madonna.
Coppola said their cha cha represented “the power of women – strong, independent women”.
Hadland, who has also starred in The Job Lot and Daddy Issues, discussed the lessons she has learned while being a competitor on the show.
“What it’s made me realise, which I did not expect to get out of this, is that I have actually put limits on myself. (Limits) I’ve decided,” she said.
“And I don’t know if this is quite a common thing, when you’re a parent, or you’ve got other things going on in your life.
“I think sometimes you put all your energy into other things, and then, I think maybe what happens is you start to sort of think, you put all your belief maybe in other people, and you don’t do it for yourself.
“And I definitely didn’t think I was one of those people that did that, and now I’ve realised, you don’t know it’s happened to you.
“And then you suddenly go, ‘Oh, how much in other areas of my life am I doing that?’ Because a lot of the time Vito will say, ‘You can do this’.
“He will say to somebody else, in front of me, ‘She’ll do that’. And I’ll be like, ‘What? no’. And then, by the end of the week, I am doing it.”
She continued: “But it just makes you realise that you sometimes think that it’s other people telling you what you can and can’t do.
“And actually, the shocking thing for me was, it was me doing that to myself and that you shouldn’t ever reach a point in your life, for whatever reason that you think – that’s me, that’s my limit.
“And you shouldn’t do that because you’re stopping all these possibilities happening.”
Trying to summarise her Strictly experience, Hadland added: “I feel like I’m living in technicolour, and then when it’s over, I’m going to be living in black and white.”
Strictly Come Dancing: The Final will air live on Saturday December 14 at 6pm, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
