Former Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jayne Dunn has hit back at online trolls who criticized her for sharing adult content on subscription platform OnlyFans.
The 44-year-old star insisted she knows she is an amazing mum and explained that she wants her young son Stanley to see her as a strong, independent woman who stands her ground.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Mail, Dunn revealed she was forced to call out two men online after receiving negative comments, noting that criticism mainly comes from users targeting her status as a mother posting on the subscription site.
She explained that while social media always brings critics, worrying about judgment holds people back from living fully.
"To be honest, it was mainly positive. Still is, I mean, like anybody on social media, whether you're in the public eye or not, there are trolls," Dunn said. "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."
"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," she added. "So I think it's important for people to push boundaries and to speak out and yeah I've had a really positive experience but of course there's trolls, of course there's people that don't agree with it of course there's people that have something to say."
Dunn expressed frustration at society expecting women to disappear after marriage or motherhood, rejecting the idea that mothers cannot feel confident or sexy.
"One of the biggest things I got was 'oh you're a mum' and my that really irks me because I feel like as women, we are told that once you get married or you have kids or you turn a certain age that you're no longer valid or you should just skulk off into the shadows and actually that's just bull c**p," she said.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 be Sarah and have hobbies and be connected to myself and feel sexy and wear what I wanna wear," Dunn said. "And I think it's really important that I do that."
She stressed that demonstrating independence is crucial for her son Stanley, whom she shares with her husband Jonathan Smith.
"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 and standing her ground," Dunn said. "I think there needs to be more people doing that and going, actually, this is what women are and this is what we can all be and that's cool, that's okay."
Husband support and schedule freedom
Dunn highlighted that her husband Jonathan Smith has fully supported her account since day one, pointing out that her image choices have not changed from her previous acting work.
"It's not even a new direction. I think like my husband's always said, 'you're not doing anything different to what you were doing prior,' but apart from now you have control and you're happier," Dunn shared. "So he's like, sort of win-win. You're doing what you were doing, but you're making money off of it. You have full control of it."
The former soap actress noted that the platform grants her complete schedule freedom to attend parent evenings and school productions for Stanley, flexibility that typical acting gigs or nine-to-five jobs rarely offer.
"And you have all this freedom of time. I can do the school run. If Stan's got a little production at school, I can make sure I'm there for that parent's evening," she added. "I can make sure I'm there, I have full freedom with my schedule. I've never had that before. When you're an actor, you don't. Or often, obviously people working nine to fives don't have that freedom. And it's amazing that I have that. I'm forever grateful."
Leaving Hollyoaks and taking control
Dunn famously joined OnlyFans five years ago in 2021 while still starring on Hollyoaks, a long-running British television soap opera. Following a meeting with soap executives, it was reported she was axed from the show when bosses stated her account was not in line with the target audience of the series.
Rather than backing down, Dunn doubled down on her decision and continued to promote her content on the site.
Reflecting on her initial decision, Dunn explained that she joined post-COVID after turning 40 to gain autonomy over her career, image, and income.
"It was post-COVID, and I was looking for a way to just have more control over my career and my time schedule and my income," she told the Daily Mail. "I posted pictures anyway on social media, obviously through Hollyoaks, I'd done lads mags all my life and the calendars and all the stuff that was part and parcel of being in that show."
She added: "And then I was just turned 40, so I'd been doing quite a lot of shoots myself, for confidence really, more than anything. I wanted to just sort of own being a woman and growing older and feeling good about myself. So I've been doing a lot of shoots, sort of like bikini, lingerie, again, stuff that I've just done all my life. It's sort of second nature."
A photographer friend questioned why she was not monetizing her images on social media, where she previously surrendered ownership and creative rights without financial return.
"It was a photographer I know actually, who was like, why aren't you monetizing your images? You put them on social media and they belong to everyone and anyone, you lose control over them," Dunn recalled. "I'd spent so much, well, all of my career not having control over what my images looked like, who shot them, what their creative styling was, whether I got any money from them or not."
"The more and more I looked into OnlyFans, the more it just made sense. Why not create the content I was creating anyway, but have full control over it? Obviously that was like five years ago now and it's still one of the best decisions I've ever made," she said.
Changing attitudes and UK cultural shifts
Dunn believes the societal stigma surrounding OnlyFans, an online subscription platform known for creator content, has lessened significantly over the past five years.
She pointed out that while the UK can be prudish compared to the United States, more actors and actresses have since joined the platform.
"I've seen a change over the past five years. It was really controversial when I first joined. I think more so because of the hypocrisy between what I was already doing and the fact that I wasn't doing anything different," Dunn said. "But I don't think there would be that sort of outcry now if anyone jumped on, there are other actors and actresses on there."
She noted: "Obviously James has just jumped on and he's really successful on there and he's really enjoying the platform. In America no one bats an eyelid, I think over in the UK we are quite prudish and I feel like we are sort of behind the times in that sense and just coming up to speed with, even with just obviously on OnlyFans, there's all sorts of different content."
Dunn added: "I think even with women just owning their own choices and having control and, there's a lot around that at the moment isn't there, of women standing in their power and actually going, I want to be in control and I'm not okay with this. I feel like there's a real wave of strong women coming forward and going in all different sectors and in all different industries really standing in their power and asking for more. I feel like OnlyFans for me was the start of that finding my voice. So I do feel like the landscape has changed over the past five years and I feel like people are now understanding the platform more as well."
Reunion on OFTV show Race of Wits
Alongside her subscription content, Dunn has reunited with former Hollyoaks co-star James Sutton for the free-to-view competition series Race of Wits on OFTV, OnlyFans' streaming network.
Hosted by British internet personality Emily Black, the eight-episode series features teams of two OnlyFans creators tackling three fast-paced London challenges to win a cash prize and outwit their rivals.
Contestants test their speed, creativity, and problem-solving skills across iconic London locations and within the Puzzle Room.
Dunn described filming the unscripted show as a fun experience that allowed them to showcase their natural chemistry outside of a soap setting.
"So much fun, it was really nice. Because when you're working, if you're not in scenes with someone in a soap, you usually just see them in the green room at lunchtime or break time," Dunn said. "Because it wasn't something serious, it was nice to just go in and be ourselves. We weren't going in learning scripts or playing characters or anything like that. It was nothing heavy at all."
She added: "It was lovely, we had so much fun. And actually, I think when you watch the episode, you'll see we've got really good chemistry between us, considering we have never really hung out before. It worked really well."
The first episode of Race of Wits is currently available to stream on OFTV, with Dunn and Sutton's episode scheduled for release on Tuesday, September 1.
