ACTRESS Sarah Jayne Dunn has said she wanted to "take back some power and control" over her images when she signed up for OnlyFans, adding it was "not a decision that I made" to leave Hollyoaks as a result.

The Leigh-born TV star, who was educated at Lowton Church of England High School, rose to fame playing Mandy Richardson on the Channel 4 soap from 1996 until 2011 and returned to the role in 2017.

She made an account on OnlyFans - a website which allows users to share content with paying "fans" - last month.

Hollyoaks said cast members are not allowed "to be active on certain 18+ websites" and confirmed Dunn is departing the soap.

Dunn told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "The idea was to launch OnlyFans and take back some power and control over my images, what I create, where I put them, and put them onto the platform. And I've been thinking long and hard about this for a good few months, with lots of different options."

She added: "I was going to run that alongside my job as well, and it's not a decision that I made.

"But this is where we're at and I'm looking at the future and where I'm at, and I'm really enjoying being in control of everything and it's really empowering."

Asked whether Hollyoaks producers would feel comfortable with the content, given the young fans of the soap, Dunn said: "The site itself you have to be over 18 to access.

"But my specific content was no different to the content that I've put on Instagram, that I've done for men's magazines, for calendars, all of my career.

"So actually, by putting it onto a platform where you have to be over 18 to get on there, it's actually protecting it from the younger audience.

"It's taking it out of the public view, and it's putting it on behind a paywall where you have to be of a certain age to view it."

OnlyFans was founded in 2016 by British entrepreneur Tim Stokely and its official website says the platform has "1,500,000+ content creators" and it has paid out at least £3.7 billion "annually to creators".

Earlier this year, it announced plans to ban sexually explicit photographs and videos on its platform but backtracked after a backlash from users.