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Former Hollyoaks star Sarah-Jayne Dunn has taken to Instagram to plead for acting work, five years after she was sacked from the E4 soap.
The actress, 44, who played Mandy Richardson on and off since 1996, was axed by show bosses after she refused to leave raunchy website OnlyFans.
Now after four years away which has seen her earn £1.5 million from the X-rated site, as well as working as a pole dancing instructor, Sarah-Jayne has said she was now keen to return to acting.
Taking to her Instagram she posted a snap of herself in Hollyoaks with the words: : ‘I haven’t been on screen in over 4 years, but that doesn’t mean I stopped wanting it’.
Before posting her new headshot and writing: ‘But now? I’m a woman in my mid-40s trying to find my way back. Not because I ever stopped loving it.. but because somewhere along the way, life shifted, and my priorities changed, and time just moved on.
‘And suddenly… the thing that once felt like me felt further away. But here’s the truth I can’t ignore anymore, I still have that pull, that desire, that voice saying, ‘you’re not done yet’.
She continued: ‘And if I’m honest.. it’s equal parts EXCITING and TERRIFYING to admit that out loud, because this industry moves fast, and stepping back into it as a woman in her 40s? That takes a different kind of confidence.
‘But maybe it also brings something more… experience, depth and stories that couldn’t have been told before. So this is me.. Showing up again as an actress – and not who I was, but who I am now.’
‘If you’re casting, creating or reading this… I’m here. And if you’re ever felt the pull to return to something you love, go for it! And suddenly… the thing that once felt like me felt further away’.
Sarah went on: ‘But here’s the truth I can’t ignore anymore, I still have that pull, that desire, that voice saying: “You’re not done yet”. And if I’m honest.. it’s equal parts EXCITING and TERRIFYING to admit that out loud,’
‘Because this industry moves fast, and stepping back into it as a woman in her 40s? That takes a different kind of confidence.
Before adding: ‘But maybe it also brings something more… experience, depth and stories that couldn’t have been told before. So this is me.. Showing up again as an actress – and not who I was, but who I am now.’
She captioned the post: Scared, excited, unsure, but I think I’m ready’.
Last year Sarah claimed OnlyFans was ‘safer’ than working on Hollyoaks.
She said she now feels more in control after previously being the victim of a terrifying stalker ordeal that saw her bombarded with ‘disturbing’ messages, that show bosses were unable to do anything about.
She told The Sun: ‘[OnlyFans] has actually been a much safer space than the likes of Instagram or TikTok or any of the other platforms that I use and that I am active on’.
‘I was getting horrendous messages on Instagram through an account, really disturbing that I went to Hollyoaks with and I contacted the police about. But they don’t do anything and they can’t do anything. And that’s terrifying.’
Sarah continued: ‘I went to Hollyoaks and it was a case of “right, just send us what he sent you'” And then I went to the police and there’s not much they can do, it’s really scary actually.’
She went on to explain how messages sent to her on OnlyFans, unlike other social media sites, are pixilated and she can now choose whether to look at them or not.
Sarah slammed bosses for ‘blatant hypocrisy’ after being ‘sexualised’ through calendar shoots on the soap.
She also revealed trolls furiously branded her ‘cheap’ for joining OnlyFans, but insists she ‘wished she’d done it sooner.’
Speaking to The Sun for their Shamed YouTube series, Sarah revealed she was branded ’embarrassing’ by trolls for setting up an OnlyFans account.
She said: ‘I’d been sexualised and been made an object of sexual desire for my entire adult life.
‘To then be told I couldn’t do it on my own terms? That was really the bit that stung because it just didn’t make sense to me.’
