Former CBeebies star Sarah-Jane Honeywell has said she almost “jumped in front of a train” after being dropped from children’s TV over nude snaps.
The 50-year-old famously ditched her bra and posed on a giant plate of food in London’s Trafalgar Square for a Peta advert in 2011. But little did she know at the time, the charity photo would end up sabotaging her career.
She lost her job, was riddled in £100,000 worth of debt and many of her BBC friends such as Mr Tumble, aka Justin Fletcher, distanced themselves from her. Sarah-Jane later found that hate groups against her were formed on Facebook and she was left feeling like the whole world was against her.
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The former children’s TV presenter struggled to hold it together in an interview with Fabulous as she recalled a time of feeling so low that she just wanted to just end it all. The BBC star told the publication: “I felt like I’d let my husband down. I’d let my parents down. I’d let everybody down.
(Image: PA Archive/Press Association Images)
“I walked to the train station in Liverpool and, I hadn’t thought I was going to kill or hurt myself, but it was like a compulsion. It was like, ‘I need to jump’. And then I remember my little boy kicking and that shocked me out of it.”
Having turned a corner in her life now, Sarah-Jane is about to feature in Shamed, a new YouTube series that looks at the impact of vilification and online trolling on six famous women. Sarah-Jane, who has two children, Indiana, six, and eight-year-old Phoenix, with her ex-Hollyoaks actor husband Ayden Callaghan, 42, said: “I just felt like my life was over.”
(Image: BBC)
At the age of 29, Sarah-Jane was earning £300 an episode on her first presenting gig on CBeebies’ Tikkabilla alongside Mr Tumble back in 2001. It was the big break she’d hoped for after she’d suffered a series of health issues throughout her teens and twenties.
The TV star had been left terrified of opening up to BBC producers about being on Prozac after she’d developed an “eating disorder from the age of 12” and about her past of dabbling in “cocaine and pills”. She decided to hide this part of her life during annual medicals for the TV channel.
(Image: BBC)
Just when things were looking up for Sarah-Jane, she was approached by Peta, an animal rights group to be the main feature for their advert. As a vegan wanting to help the cause, she accepted and her whole life changed.
Speaking about the modelling stint for the famous shoot, Sarah-Jane commented: “They said I could wear a bra and pants, so I got some flesh-coloured ones, and I was asked to lie down on a giant plate of food. As I got in position, they asked me to take my bra off because it’d get loads more news coverage.
(Image: sjhoneywell / Instagram)
“I thought, ‘OK, I’m helping a good cause’ and I didn’t really see what was wrong with it. They’re just boobs and they were covered with my hands.” After the image landed on new-stands, Mr Tumble’s then co-star detailed her “shock”, knowing something bad was about to happen.
The mum-of-two recalled phoning her co-star Justin but she “never heard from him” or any of her other peers again. It was at that point, she’d also realised the BBC had sacked her without prior warning. Sarah-Jane added: “Then I found out in the papers, they’d gone to the BBC for comment, that I no longer worked there. That was a shock.”
(Image: Instagram)
Despite her worrying thoughts at the train station, feeling like she’d let everyone down and all of the nasty trolling, Sarah-Jane confessed she wouldn’t undo the Peta shoot if she could now go back in time. The radio host said she “likes” the picture of herself.
She also revealed that her children “don’t care” about it either. Sarah-Jane has accepted that the modelling stint has moulded her into the person she is today and she “wouldn’t change it”.
For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
