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Hollyoaks star Sarah Jayne Dunn takes break from soap after son is rushed to hospital

The actress is a mother to three-year-old Stanley

sarah jayne dunn
Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
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Hollyoaks star Sarah Jayne Dunn has revealed she is taking time off from filming the Channel 4 soap to care for her three-year-old son, Stanley. The actress, 38, shared a post from the Royal Bolton Hospital on Wednesday, in which she revealed that her little boy had been taken ill. Sarah Jayne shared a photo of herself and Hollyoaks co-star Stephanie Waring, writing alongside: "I've had the most emotionally draining & stressful week of my life. I can't wait for my little man to be back to health first & foremost. Then I can't wait to be back on set doing a job I love & working with people that make me smile. Love ya @stephwaring. Fingers crossed it won't be much longer before I'm back."

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Sarah Jayne Dunn is taking time out of Hollyoaks to care for her son

Sarah Jayne's colleagues and famous friends were quick to send their wellwishes, with former Coronation Street actress Lucy-Jo Hudson - who starred as Donna-Marie Quinn on the C4 soap between 2018-2019 - writing: "Ah I don't know what's gone on but I hope your little boy is ok X." Chelsee Healey, who stars as Goldie McQueen, said: "Been thinking about you and Stanley, sending lots of love, luck and prayers." And Stephanie, who plays Cindy Cunningham in the show, sweetly replied: "Feel like I've lost an arm… missing you lots xxxx."

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The actress married Jonathan Smith in May 2018

Sarah Jayne first joined Hollyoaks as Mandy Richardson for a 12-year stint in 1996, and has been back and forth ever since to reprise her role. The actress – who married long-term partner Jonathan Smith in May 2018 – recently revealed she struggles to switch off from some of the show's darker storylines. "Sometimes you come home at the end of the day and you've been crying all day you can't switch off," she told the Sun.

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"You can become consumed with it and spend a lot of your time reading scripts and learning lines for the next day so if you've got a long day you often don't switch off. It's because you're straight in from work, you have your tea, and then it's, 'Right I’ve got to look at my scenes for tomorrow and back into heavy stuff again'. But the show's good with us, we balance things nicely with nice story lines in between. You might have a few months of it being full on [misery], but you know that that's not forever."