'I'd been sort of sexualised my whole career...' Ex Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jayne Dunn feels empowered now as a woman
Sarah Jayne Dunn - who played Mandy Richardson in 'Hollyoaks' - feels empowered now as a content creator in control of her own body and image.
Former 'Hollyoaks' star Sarah Jayne Dunn believes she has was sexualised for her entire career.
The 43-year-old actress departed her role as Mandy Richardson on the Channel 4 soap after appearing as the character on-and-off for 25 years in November 2021 after bosses made the decision to let her go after she started her own OnlyFans account.
Sarah is still disappointed that Channel 4 chose to let her go for having an Only Fans account when she had been encouraged to participate in racy lads' mags photoshoots and appear in lingerie in for official 'Hollyoaks' calendars to promote the show.
Despite her disappointment, Sarah is proud that she took control of her own image and body for her own gain.
In an interview with the new issue of Closer magazine, she said: "I'd been sort of sexualised my whole career, from being 17, 18-years-old, and suddenly, when I took back the power, I guess it was shocking for people - but in a good way - in that I've got so much support, with people going, 'Well, why not? You should be in control of this.'"
Since becoming a content creator, Sarah has achieved huge success both financially and in terms of followers with it being reported that she earned £700,000 in her first year.
On her subscription channel, Dunn - who is married to personal trainer husband Jonathan Smith, who she raises nine-year-old son Stanley with - feels as though she is showing that women in their 40s can still be confident and sexy.
She said: "As somebody in her 40s that's married and has got a child, we're told, as women, that if we tick those boxes, we're no longer relevant, or we re no longer allowed to be sexy or feminine.
"We get to that point and it's like, 'You can't be a wife or mother and be sexy, or you can't be over 40 and show some flesh.'
"So, I'm trying to really challenge that, because who sets those rules?'"
Despite her success as a content creator, Sarah does see a time in the future when she closes down her Only Fans account.
The TV star - who also works as a pole dancing instructor - said: "I know I'll get to a point where I'll go, 'I'm sort of done with this now,' or where I won't have as many followers because I don't do explicit content - I have my boundaries.
When Sarah was let go from 'Hollyoaks' a statement from the soap's hierarchy read: "'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.
“In the past four years since her return to the show her legacy character has been an integral part of some our most important storylines and we will be very sad to see her go.”
