Sarah-Jane Honeywell, a children’s TV presenter, has spoken out about the ‘uproar’ she received from mothers after uploading a topless vacation photo on Instagram.
Sarah-Jane, who was fired from CBeebies in 2011 after posing naked for a Peta ad, claimed she has become accustomed to mum-shaming.
However, the 49-year-old, who has two children with her Hollyoaks actor husband Ayden Callaghan, Indiana, 5, and Phoenix, 9, confessed she was surprised by the level of hate she received after releasing her recent photos.
She explained: ‘I had let my CBoobies out on a beach in La Manga and I posted a photo of myself topless on Instagram.
‘It was just the silhouette of my body and then another taken from behind – people were outraged.
‘My comments section was flooded with strangers concerned about my “poor boys.”‘
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Sarah-Jane branded the response as ‘madness’ as she told The Sun that ‘they’re just boobs.’
She added: ‘I am constantly mum-shamed, I’ve come to expect it.
‘But I certainly wasn’t expecting such an uproar when I shared my snaps from our recent holiday to Spain.’
Sarah-Jane recreated the shot and released the photos on Instagram last year to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the ad that landed her sacked from the BBC channel.
In the caption, she wrote: ‘It’s 10 years to the day that a picture was taken that changed the projection of my life completely. To celebrate the changes that #cancelculture propelled me towards, here is a similar picture taken on my roof today, 10 years later. This time though, I’m asking you to ‘Relate to what’s on someone’s plate’ #bekind #bekindtoyourself.
‘We are all in this together & we don’t have to get on but we can get along.’
Setting the record straight on her departure, she then claimed: ‘There is so much speculation about how “this picture” got me fired from CBeebies but the truth is there was already a producer that hated me & wanted to get rid of me.
‘This picture merely lit the match to a bonfire that had already been built for me.’
Sarah-Jane previously said she felt ‘lost’ after being given the boot from CBeebies, stating: ‘I felt like I’d lost my identity really, so my whole kind of sense of purpose, identity, everything about me felt like it was slipping away.’
Explaining that she had also broken up with her then-partner at the time as well, she added: ‘I kind of lost my home, my job and my identity in a matter of six months.
‘It was really bizarre, but now I think it was a good thing. In fact, I know it was a good thing.’
Sarah-Jane recreated the shot and released the photos on Instagram last year to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the ad that landed her sacked from the BBC channel.
In 2021, she said Justin hadn’t spoken to her since the sacking, adding: ‘I called and left him a message but to this day he’s never responded. We were the best of mates, so that really hurt.
‘I do understand it though, because as a children’s presenter he needs to protect his own image.’
Sarah-Jane now runs Lincoln-based children’s drama school, Curious Theatre School, which she founded with Ayden, and performs in stage productions.
