Sacked Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jayne Dunn says she feels freer than ever before after being dumped by the soap over her fledgling OnlyFans career.
The 40-year-old actress was dropped by the Channel 4 soap after it emerged she was flogging saucy snaps of herself on x-rated website OnlyFans.
Hollyoaks bosses deemed her decision to join the pornographic subscription website was at odds with the family-friendly orientation of the tea-time soap and promptly showed her the door.
But SJD doesn’t appear to care in the slightest that her acting career has been torpedoed by her saucy side-hustle – and she says she feels completely liberated.
Taking to Instagram over the weekend, Sarah – who played loveable girl-next-door Mandy Richardson on Hollyoaks from 1996 until she was fired in 2021 – indulged in a Q&A session with fans.
Asked by one fan: “How do you feel since not working for Hollyoaks anymore?”, the star replied: “Free” – while sharing a photo of herself seemingly dancing in a restaurant.
She did, however, admit she would not have chosen to leave her role as Mandy if she had the choice – but hinted that it has been the best decision, in hindsight.
A fan asked: “If Hollyoaks had of let you stay regardless of OnlyFans, would you have left anyways?”
And Sarah replied: “Leaving the show was never my intention of my choice but I believe in everything for a reason and I'm much happier now.”
Sarah went on to suggest that the cast of Hollyoaks clash with each other behind-the-scenes as she teasingly responded to another question asking if she missed her co-stars to state: “I miss *most of * the people.”
Sarah previously placed the Channel 4 soap in an awkward position as it was revealed she was selling racy content online.
A source previously said last year, at the height of the snaps scandal: “Nobody at the show wishes to condemn people’s personal decisions about OnlyFans or online content – and of course women are totally free to make their own choices about the sort of photographs they wish to take of themselves – but this was about whether it is something that tallies with the show’s audience."
A Hollyoaks spokesperson confirmed the actress had been fired from the show, saying: "Hollyoaks is a youth-facing drama with many young viewers, who follow our cast very closely, both in the soap and outside of it.
“We take our responsibility to our young audience very seriously and therefore the show does not allow any Hollyoaks cast members to be active on certain 18+ websites.
“We had hoped we could reach a resolution with Sarah that would allow her to remain in her role as Mandy, but we respect her choice to continue to produce content on OnlyFans."
Sarah had defended her decision to sign up to OnlyFans – a website flooded with explicit content created by porn performers and sex workers.
The wholesome star explained last year: "I'm simply moving my sexier, racier images to another platform.
“This is a decision I’ve thought long and hard about, not one I’ve taken lightly or on a whim, it’s about taking back control, about empowerment and confidence and having full power over my choices."
