I was sacked from Cbeebies over my topless pics, but now I’m a mum my CBoobies STILL get shamed
IT’S been 12 years since Sarah-Jane Honeywell posed topless in Trafalgar Square in aid of a Peta campaign.
The now infamous photoshoot saw the former Cbeebies presenter being unceremoniously sacked from her role at the BBC without warning.
And it seems that over a decade on, topless photos are still causing a headache for the mum-of-two who has become a victim of mum-shaming as a result.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Sarah-Jane says: “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.
“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.’
“It was madness, they’re just boobs!”
Sarah-Jane, 49, has two children, Indiana, 5, and 9-year-old Phoenix, with her Hollyoaks actor husband Ayden Callaghan, 41.
And as Ayden has been on tour for the past year for his role in the musical The Bodyguard, Sarah-Jane, from Nottingham, has been left in charge of the school-run.
And it seems that it isn’t just keyboard warriors that are quick to criticise her parenting.
“I have had people come up to me on the school-run to tell me off about my parenting to my face,” Sarah-Jane says.
“I’ve even had a telling off from the boys’ headmaster for Phoenix’s sloppy uniform.
“What can I do, I can’t tie a tie and Ayden is away, Phoenix had to wear it so I just tied it in a bow.
“I thought it was hilarious but the headmaster was quick to give me a dressing down about my ‘life skills.’
“Honestly, who cares about how my eight-year-old is dressed?”
Well apparently quite a few people as Sarah-Jane was mum-shamed not once but twice over her eldest’s uniform.
“On another occasion I made the mistake of forgetting Phoenix’s coat on a day when it was really cold,” the BBC Radio Lincoln host says.
“I went on a mad dash around our home town of Lincoln looking for something but there was a limited choice so he ended up in a ladies jacket.
“We were in hysterics, he looked like he was off to Hogwarts but his teacher failed to see the funny side – she looked at me with utter disgust.
“I think that’s the issue when it comes to mum-shaming, no one has a sense of humour anymore, they’re just quick to tell you off.
“Whether they’re making snarky comments on the school Whatsapp group or complaining about what your children have in their lunchbox, someone always has something to say.”
Sarah-Jane, who has been sober for 22 years after developing a cocaine addiction in her 20s, says that she has learnt to ignore her mum–shamers as she’s got older.
“Having been through what I’ve been through I have got quite a thick skin,” the mum says.
“The one comment that was hard to ignore was after Phoenix was born and I got a few trolls making remarks on Twitter.
“Somebody said I shouldn’t be having children because I was a ‘druggie’ . It was hard to ignore but I did ignore it.
“I’m a lot older so I can take a bit of mum-shaming but it’s not the same for younger mums
“I know I am going to get things wrong.
“I’m always joking that I’m not saving up for uni, I’m saving up for therapy when they’re older.
“You’re never going to get everything right, you just have to do what you can.”
Sarah-Jane says she “couldn’t believe her luck” when she landed her first presenting job on Cbeebies in 2001.
But ten years later it came crashing down when she was sacked after posing topless, leaving her homeless, suicidal, in £100k worth of debt and estranged from her former pal, Mr Tumble aka Justin Fletcher.
Sarah-Jane admits she is still “too bitter and twisted” to let her children watch Cbeebies.
“Letting my boys watch Cbeebies would make me sad because I really did love that job,” she says.
“If I was supposed to be there at 7am you’d find me there at 6am and I just really gave it my all.
“I don’t wish the channel any harm because I love it, it’s brilliantly entertaining, but I avoid it because it makes my soul hurt.”