Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jayne Dunn, who plays Mandy in the Channel 4 soap, has been dropped after refusing to remove photos from an adult subscription site.

Dunn, who first appeared on the show in 1996, recently said she was putting her "sexier, racier" photos on OnlyFans.

She said the move was "about empowerment and confidence and having full power over my choices".

But Hollyoaks said it was not in line with its target audience and it did not allow cast members to sell such photos.

"Hollyoaks is a youth-facing drama with many young viewers, who follow our cast very closely, both in the soap and outside of it," a spokesperson told the BBC.

"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.

'Sad to see her go'

"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," they added, in a statement which was also issued to The Sun on Wednesday evening.

Dunn, 40, has had a number of stints in the soap, most recently returning in 2017.

After her departure was announced, she thanked fans for "all your support".

'Take back control'

It comes two weeks after she posted a statement on Instagram about her move to OnlyFans, saying: "This is a decision I've thought long and hard about, not one I've taken lightly or on a whim, it's about taking back control."

She added: "I've done men's mag upon men's mag and calendar upon calendar, I've enjoyed every shoot but never felt like I had much say in them.

"I've been pitted against other girls and felt deflated if not chosen for a shoot or for a cover, I've been airbrushed, retouched and 'enhanced' without consent and without necessity and I've not always been given photo or copy (the wording of an interview) approval, leaving both my image and words distorted.

"The older I get the more cathartic it is to take back control, to put healthy boundaries in place and to know my worth and my value."

Her OnlyFans page offers a subscription for £11 a month and also has a link to an Amazon wish-list where fans can buy her items including various costumes.

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