In advance of her acting première in BBC Two’s credit crunch drama Freefall, Girls Aloud’s Sarah Harding has said that she would love also love to take on a comedy role.

“People like to see you as just one thing and find it hard to take if you try something different – they say ‘Why’s she doing that?’” she told The Sun.

“So I have to be clever about what I choose and take it one step at a time.”

She continued: “I’d love to play a fiery, strong, independent woman and appear in a psychological thriller or perhaps a comedy – I adore making people laugh.”

Harding also claimed that there is a “stigma” to popstars who want to move into the acting industry.

“I’m working my way into acting gradually – I don’t want people to think that I’m just swanning in there,” she joked.