Hollyoaks Sarah Jayne Dunn thanks fans for their support after leaving show amid OnlyFans row
Actress Sarah Jayne Dunn joined presenter Gamal Fahnbulleh in the studio to talk about how she is dealing with the news that she will no longer appear on Hollyoaks.
An actress who was forced to leave a role in Hollyoaks due to a disagreement with bosses about her 'OnlyFans' account has thanked fans for their support.
Sarah Jayne Dunn, who played Mandy Richardson in the show for more than two decades, lost her job because of posts on the 18+ subscription site.
Dunn, who has been in the Channel 4 soap since 1996, says she made the decision to "take back control, empowerment and confidence”.
The 40-year-old says she's "disappointed" by the outcome, but the soap's bosses say stars are not allowed "to be active" on certain adult sites.
Speaking to ITV Granada, Sarah said the support from her fans after the news of her departure broke has been 'immense' after a 'overwhelming' 48 hours.
In an Instagram post, she said: "I feel sexy and strong and confident when I shoot images like this.
"I hope I give other women the confidence to own it, to work hard on themselves, to eat well and healthily and to move their bodies in whatever way makes them feel most alive and energised, to wear whatever they like without judgement and to feel proud to be a woman.
"We shouldn’t have to hide away from the power that we have."
Hollyoaks bosses have said it is a 'youth-facing drama' with many 'young viewers'.
A statement from the show read: "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."
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