Former Hollyoaks star Sarah Jayne Dunn has slammed internet trolls who attacked her for joining a popular adult content platform, which saw her axed from the soap.
She said women shouldn’t be shamed for feeling sexy after having children. The actress, 44, famously launched her racy subscription page five years ago, sharing lingerie-clad photos.
But the move sparked a row with bosses at Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, where she played Mandy Richardson on and off for 25 years. Producers reportedly gave her an ultimatum in late 2021 to delete the adult content account, arguing the platform clashed with the show’s younger audience.
Dunn refused and was subsequently sacked. She has since branded the decision “blatant hypocrisy”, pointing out Hollyoaks spent decades cashing in on official cast calendars featuring its stars in bikinis and lingerie.
Dunn has recently revealed she is still forced to deal with nasty comments online and says much of it is aimed at her as a parent. She told the Daily Mail: “To be honest, it was mainly positive.
“Still is… there are trolls. I’ve actually called a couple of men out today because it’s just, they have something to say about anything.
“You can’t do right, you can’t do wrong.”
Dunn added: “So I feel like if you live in that box where you’re forever worried about what people are going to think or what people are going to say, you will never do anything and you will forever stay small.
“One of the biggest things I got was ‘oh you’re a mum’ and that really irks me… once you get married or you have kids or you turn a certain age that you’re no longer valid… and actually that’s just bull c**p.”
Dunn, who shares 10-year-old son Stanley with husband Jonathan, said: “So I’m really like why shouldn’t I? I can be a mum and an amazing mum and I can still be me and… feel sexy and wear what I wanna wear.”
She also said she wants her son to see her “standing her ground”.
“I think it’s really important for my son, especially being a son, to see a strong, independent woman and for him to see his mom being a bad**s,” she said.
Dunn added that Jonathan has backed her decision, saying the big change is that she now has control and freedom. She said it has even helped her family life, adding she can do the school run and attend parents’ evenings.
Since leaving the soap, Dunn has reportedly earned around £1.5 million on adult content – said to be more than she made across her entire 20-plus-year TV career. She is now set to appear on OFTV’s quiz show Race Of Wits.
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