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Sarah Hadland warned over Strictly stint as pro throws doubt on her show future

Sarah is paired with Vito Coppola

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Sarah Hadland has had a successful Strictly stint so far. However, one former professional dancer cast doubt on her making the final.

He believes that Sarah’s performance wasn’t undermarked over the weekend, despite fans calling for “justice” for the star over the scoring.

On Saturday (November 9), Sarah wowed viewers with her performance of an American Smooth to Proud by Heather Small. Although her moves went down a storm with those watching at home, some seemed frustrated over the judges’ scores.

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola dancing on Strictly
Actress Sarah performed an American Smooth on Saturday (Credit: BBC / Guy Levy)

Sarah Hadland on Strictly

Sarah and Vito Coppola scored 33 points over the weekend, leaving her in sixth place on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, fans flocked to social media to fume over Shirley Ballas awarding Pete Wicks a 10 while only giving Sarah an eight.

Now, former dancing pro Brendan Cole has shared his verdict.

“They [Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola] weren’t undermarked,” Brendan told us on behalf of Sky Vegas. “She’s very, very good but I don’t love what she’s doing yet. She’s a wonderful performer and she’s clearly a very good dancer, but she’s not always being pulled up on the stuff that she needs to be pulled up on. ”

Brendan Cole talking on This Morning
Brendan shared his thoughts (Credit: ITV)

Brendan Cole on Sarah Hadland’s Strictly future

He added: “With a ballroom number and in particular her American Smooth, there are certain techniques. Shirley [Ballas] alluded to it which I’m pleased about – the closing of the feet, the toes coming together. Her feet are turned out the whole time, which means she’s not doing the proper technical side of ballroom. There’s not a real use of slows into quicks, softening into the knee and using the standing leg to drive out – all this little technical stuff makes a massive difference. ”

He went on to say: “Shirley picked up on some of it, which I’m glad about. They are going along with the wow factor, which is very easy to do if you’re a performer as she is. A wow factor is easy and she’s a born performer. She loves it, as is Vito.”

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola dancing on Strictly
Sarah and Vito scored 33 points last Saturday (Credit: BBC/Guy Levy)

Brendan also admitted that unless things change, he doesn’t have high hopes for her Strictly future…

The star said: “It’s very easy to get swept up in the wow factor of it, but what it comes down to is you’ve got to have the fundamentals of dance working correctly to make the whole thing look amazing [like Tasha (Ghouri) for example].

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“When that happens, and then you put the wow factor on top, that is when you have an incredible dance. I haven’t seen that from them yet in the ballroom numbers – I have seen it more in the Latin though. Unless this improves, I don’t see her as a contender for the title at the moment.”

Oh no! Do you agree?

Read more: Chris McCausland, Tasha Ghouri and Sarah Hadland tipped for Strictly 2024 final

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Emily Towers
TV & Showbiz Writer
Emily loves to write about the latest trending news, whether it’s reality TV chaos or Royal drama. She also has a passion for translating editorial content into share-worthy social media posts after spending two years as a social media manager and marketing executive.