Ex-Hollyoaks star Sarah Jayne Dunn brands herself 'an amazing mum' as she hits back at trolls over her OnlyFans career and says 'I want my son to see me be a strong, independent woman'

Sarah Jayne Dunn has hit back at trolls who have criticised her for joining the racy subscription site OnlyFans, insisting she 'knows she's an amazing Mum'.The former Hollyoaks star, 44, famously joined the platform five years ago to share lingerie-clad snaps, with the move leading to her axeing from the soap.In an interview with the Daily Mail, Sarah has shared that she's been forced to hit back at men online who have criticised her for joining OnlyFans, and shared she's mainly come under fire from users as a mum posting on the platform.Sarah, who shares son Stanley with her husband Jonathan Smith, hit back at the criticism by insisting she wants to set a good example for her child by being a 'strong, independent woman'.The actress, who is set to appear on OFTV's quiz show Race Of Wits, said: '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.'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. Sarah Jayne Dunn has hit back at trolls who have criticised her for joining the racy subscription site OnlyFans, insisting she 'knows she's an amazing Mum''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.'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.'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I feel like as women, we are told that once you get married or you have kids or you turn a certain age that you're no longer valid or you should just skulk off into the shadows and actually that's just bull c**p.'So I'm really like why shouldn't I? I can be a mum and an amazing mum and I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.'And I think it's really important that I do that.'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. '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.'Sarah also shared that her husband Jonathan has always supported her decision to post on OnlyFans, adding: '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. '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 actress, who shares son Stanley with her husband Jonathan Smith, hit back at the criticism by saying she wants to set a good example for her child Sarah famously joined the platform five years ago to share lingerie-clad snaps, and the move led her to be axed from Hollyoaks'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.'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.' Sarah famously joined OnlyFans back in 2021 when she was still a member of the Hollyoaks cast, and after a meeting with soap bosses, it was reported she'd been 'axed' from the show.Bosses stated at the time that her decision to post on the platform 'was not in line' with the soap's target audience, but the actress doubled down and has continued to promote her content on the site.Speaking about her decision to first join the platform, Sarah told the Daily Mail: '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. '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. '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.'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.'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. Sarah has also reunited with her former Hollyoaks co-star James Sutton to star on OnlyFans' free-to-view platform OFTV, in the series Race of Wits'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.' Sarah went on to say she 'definitely' feels the stigma towards posting content on OnlyFans has lessened since she joined.She added: '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. '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.'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.'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.'Alongside her work on the subscription site, Sarah has also reunited with her former Hollyoaks co-star James Sutton to star on OnlyFans' free-to-view platform OFTV, in the competition series Race of Wits.Hosted by British internet personality Emily Black, the eight-episode series sees teams of two OnlyFans creators take on three fast-paced, London-based challenges in a bid to win a cash prize and claim the bragging rights over outwitting the competition.From taking on missions at iconic London locations to solving a series of clues in the Puzzle Room, each episode puts the contestants' speed, creativity and problem-solving skills to the test.Speaking about reuniting with James for the show, Sarah said: '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.'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.'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 available to stream on OFTV. Sarah and James' episode will be released on Tuesday, September 1.