Strictly’s Sarah Hadland, 53, says she ‘refuses to be invisible in her 50s’ as she prepares to become Madonna for Icons Week: ‘Age doesn’t mean anything!’

Madonna once said the ‘world refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45’ and has called out ageism in the industry countless times.

Now Sarah Hadland has channelled her inner Material Girl as she says she refuses to become ‘invisible at 50’ and has ‘no time’ for ageism.

The actress will dance the Cha Cha to Madonna’s Like a Prayer for Strictly Come Dancing’s Icons Week on Saturday. 

Speaking ahead of the show, Sarah said: ‘A lot of women do feel invisible in their 50s.

‘I think it’s slightly changing, it is improving.

‘If there’s one thing I’d like to do, it is to make people realise that age doesn’t mean anything.

The actress will dance the Cha Cha to Madonna’s Like a Prayer for Strictly Come Dancing’s Icons Week on Saturday (Madonna pictured in 1990) 

‘I think we really need to rethink this idea of what people are supposed to be doing at what age, I just have no time for it whatsoever.

‘I think I’m going to do everything I want to do until I can’t.

‘So I hope that if there is anybody the same age as me watching this that they feel inspired to just get out there regardless of what other people think.

‘I think if I can inspire people to do something that they don’t feel confident in, that would be amazing.

‘I think you feel super fit doing this. I thought I was fairly fit before because I do a lot of long distance running, but this is a different, this is a different thing completely.

‘You feel like a little spring lamb.’

Last year Madonna, 66, issued a response against those who critiqued her appearance at the Grammys, calling the attacks ‘ageism and misogyny’.

In a statement posted to her Instagram she said: ‘Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in.

Sarah is partnered with Vito Coppola. She said: ‘I hope that if there is anybody the same age as me watching this that they feel inspired to just get out there’ 

Last year Madonna, 66, issued a response against those who critiqued her appearance at the Grammys, calling the attacks ‘ageism and misogyny’

‘A world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 and feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working and adventurous.

‘I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come.’

Sarah said she saw Madonna live in the 90s and she has inspired her ever since.

‘I went to see Madonna in the early 90s at Wembley and she was amazing.

‘And this was when not many women were doing these big shows.

‘She was one of the first people to be a big, global pop star who was going into stadiums and just blowing everybody away.

And the choreography, I mean, it’s so linked to Strictly because I feel like she was the first female pop star to do dancing the way she did because she was a proper dancer.

‘There was some footage online recently of her in rehearsal, and her backing dancers are like 20 years old. How old is Madonna now? She just looked the same as them.

‘She was smashing the choreography and you just think, “Oh, you are amazing”.’