CHILDREN’S TV presenters are renowned for their saccharine personalities and clean-cut lifestyles, so parents around the country gasped after near-naked photos of Sarah-Jane Honeywell hit the headlines.
The 49-year-old former Cbeebies host, from Nottingham, posed topless, lying on a giant plate of food in London’s Trafalgar Square, for a now infamous Peta advert in 2011.
Additional shots of her in a skimpy vest, suggestively pouring Diet Coke over her braless chest, put the nail in the coffin of her kids' TV career.
“After that, all the doors were slammed in my face,” says Sarah-Jane, speaking exclusively to Fabulous for Telly Timewarp, our new series where we chat to former small-screen icons.
“I couldn’t get any auditions because people didn’t take me seriously and just passed me off as a children’s TV weirdo. Financially it was an absolute disaster.”
The sacking caused Sarah-Jane’s personal life to spiral. She was left homeless, suicidal, in £100k worth of debt and estranged from her former pal, Mr Tumble aka Justin Fletcher.
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Sarah-Jane, who has two children, Indiana, 5, and 7-year-old Phoenix, with her Hollyoaks actor husband Ayden Callaghan, 41, says: “We lost everything. As a result we were forced to live in the garage of my parents’ home for three years.
“As well as losing my job at Cbeebies, I had also been through a breakup and it left my financial situation in ruins.
“Ayden and I both worked really hard all our lives, and then we suddenly found ourselves living in this tiny space with two children.”
Sarah-Jane says she “couldn’t believe her luck” when she landed her first presenting job on Cbeebies in 2001.
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She says, “I was working on Tickabilla. I always felt like I understood children far better than I did adults so it just felt like the perfect environment to be in.
“It really was everything I ever dreamed of, honestly I had so much fun, I was earning around £300 per episode but I would have done it for a fiver.
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Sarah-Jane thrived at the broadcaster but admits she was shocked by the strict rules presenters had to follow.
“Producers hated you being rude or crude in any way,” she says.
“I would understand if children had been on set or if the cameras were rolling but even if we were off-air with only adults around we had to watch what we said.”
She adds: “Not that it ever stopped me, I would regularly flash my bra to the camera between takes!
“It was always a laugh and no one ever took it too seriously.”
Sarah-Jane angered producers after getting a giant tattoo of fairy wings on her back.
“I didn’t think anything of it because it’s not like I’d often have my back out on kids’ TV,” she says.
“But my producers were horrified, I may as well have done something disgusting on their desks. I found it a bit archaic, plenty of parents have tattoos and it certainly doesn’t make you a monster!”
Sarah-Jane says she kept serious health ailments from her colleagues over fear of getting the boot. “I had been on Prozac for much of my life after developing an eating disorder aged 12 ,” she explains.
“When I went for my medical at the BBC they asked if I had ever been on illegal drugs or antidepressants and I knew it would be best to lie about that.
“From the age of about 26-28 I had been dabbling in cocaine and pills but I was completely sober from 2000 onwards.
“I was probably one of the few people at Cbeebies who didn’t even drink.”
Sarah-Jane worked closely with Fletcher for 12 years on shows including Higgledy House and Tikabilla, but says she noticed a huge disparity between their roles.
Letting my boys watch Cbeebies would make me sad because I really did love that job
“There was one occasion when we were both working on separate shows not long before I got fired,” Sarah-Jane recalls.
“At the time Justin had two dressers and Winnebago and a driver, I had none of those things.”
Sarah-Jane struggled to get on with some members of the team and felt like she became a target, recalling one incident where a colleague told her she looked “old, ugly and her hair was too long”.
She says: “I had to drive myself to the set, I got changed in the back of the car and did my own make-up.
“I think the producer really hated me and wanted me gone, she just had to wait for me to give her an excuse, and I certainly didn’t disappoint!
“I haven’t heard from Justin since then, which was heartbreaking, I think he wanted to distance himself from me but I really regret losing that friendship.”
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.”
Sarah-Jane is now back on her feet with a stable job at BBC Radio Lincoln where she presents the Sunday afternoon show, as well as running her own drama school Curious Theatre.
The mum says that it was her husband Ayden, who is currently starring in the bodyguard, who helped her get to where she is today.
“We have been through an incredible amount together,” she says.
“We have suffered job loss, devastating debt, and we also suffered a devastating miscarriage in summer 2014 and Ayden has been my rock throughout.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without him.”
And, 12 years after her career came crashing down, she says she has nothing but pride for her infamous animal rights shoot.
“I'm proud that I I tried to do something good,” she says.
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“I don't know if I went about it the right way but I just, I just tried to help a charity really and I like the photo. I look good.”
The BBC declined to comment when approached by Fabulous.
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