A FORMER Hollyoaks actress has revealed she was punched, kicked and spat at during her time on the soap.
Hollie-Jay Bowes found fame on the Channel 4 soap opera when she played the role of Michaela McQueen.
It became the star’s most high-profile role and saw her become a fixture of the soap celebrity circuit.
But now she has spoken out to discuss the difficulties she faced whilst being one of the show’s leading ladies.
Taking to TikTok, she responded to a fan who blasted the star as “rude” when they met her on a night out in Liverpool.
In a lengthy caption response, Hollie-Jay justified her actions as she opened up on her struggle with being in the public eye.
The actress said: “I will never apologise for being rude to someone if I felt uneasy.
“In this particular situation, I’d have been 17-18, an undiagnosed Autistic girl who found ‘fame’ quite overwhelming and hard to deal with. The Mcqueens got a lot of attention.
“Attention I never knew we would get when signing up to my dream job.
“A job I’m extremely proud of but brought me a lot of social anxiety, that I spent years in therapy unwrapping.
“I’ve been spat at, punched, kicked, grabbed, licked and verbally abused on nights out for being Michaela McQueen or simply, that girl from Hollyoaks.”
Hollie-Jay further admitted she was forced to go to court as a result of one incident which occurred during her teenage years on the soap.
She said: “I had to go to court and testify against a man who broke my old friends jaw in a town centre as I was getting in a taxi when I was a teen.
“I have spent a lot of time forgiving myself for how I used to handle things as a teen. This isn’t one of them.
“No one has the right to speak to you. Ever. And women, remember that.
“You have the every right to close yourself off, keep your guard up and your wits about you on a night out if a drunk man is trying to talk to you.”
Hollie-Jay first appeared on the show in 2006 but decided to leave four years later in 2010.
Whilst initially having six months to film her exit, bosses quickly decided to write her out after she spoke about her exit and upcoming storylines on social media.
A year later, she was brought back in late night spin-off show, Hollyoaks Later and then went on to rejoin the main soap for a further year.
She made her final appearance in August 2012 after she opted to leave once again.
After taking time out of the spotlight, she returned to fame in 2023 when she began appearing in the BBC’s Waterloo Road.
