Jennifer Metcalfe flashes her taut abs in a chic cut-out top and cropped blazer as she leaves Sunday Brunch

Jennifer Metcalfe showed off her toned abs in a stylish ensemble as she left Sunday Brunch following her latest TV appearance.

The 41-year-old Hollyoaks favourite showed off her sensational body in a cut-out top underneath a chic navy cropped blazer.

She wore grey oversized trousers and kept warm in sneakers. She was seen carrying essentials in a shoulder bag and another handbag.

Her brunette locks were perfectly blow-dried as Jennifer beamed down the streets to capture some striking snaps, and was also captured busy on her phone.

Jennifer recently revealed the heartbreaking connection to real life she has Oak trees Mercedes McQueen’s new gut character cancer storyline.

The 41-year-old Hollyoaks favourite showed off her sensational body by wearing a cut-out top underneath a chic navy cropped blazer

The actress, who has played Mercedes on the Channel 4 soap since 2006, is now set to take on a challenging new storyline as a new mother battling cancer following the time jump.

Jennifer said it was tough filming the emotional scenes as her father Colin passed away when she was just 15 due to the disease.

Speaking with The Sunshe said: ‘My father died of colon cancer when I was 15, so I went through it with him, which is why I wanted to tell this storyline as well.

‘You have people who say: “I can’t do that, because I’ve been through that and I don’t want to play into that”. I never mourned my father. That’s pure mourning, what we saw there. Pure therapy and the rest.’

Jennifer said she was keen to be ‘challenged’ by the new storyline and has been working closely with Bowel Cancer UK.

She added: ‘I think it’s important that we don’t take today for granted. What’s beautiful about the leap forward, and I’m so glad they did it that way, like the year leap, is that you see people a year later in love. Now they’re not in love anymore. You see people with perfect health, that’s deteriorated. People who had everything financially, they can go.

“It really makes me realize that you can’t take a year, a day, for granted. And I think it’s going to be really impressive for the audience to see that as well.”

During the filming of the upcoming scenes, Jennifer undergoes a transformation into Mercedes while undergoing chemotherapy and having to wear a bald cap.

She wore a pair of grey oversized trousers and kept warm in a pair of sneakers. She was seen carrying the essentials in a crossbody bag and another handbag.

Her chocolate-colored locks were perfectly blow-dried as Jennifer beamed down the streets for a series of striking snaps, and she was also captured busy on her phone

Jennifer recently revealed the heartbreaking real-life connection she has with Hollyoaks character Mercedes McQueen’s new bowel cancer storyline

In intense episodes, Mercedes is told that there is a shortage of the chemotherapy drug that doctors would ideally prescribe for her, putting her life in danger.

During filming, Jennifer also said she got tears in her eyes because she felt sorry for “women with cancer” who were losing their hair.

Last week, Hollyoaks began a major change to their programming, cutting from five to just three episodes per week.

The series will see a one-year time jump as 20 cast members are sadly axed due to ongoing budget cuts at Channel 4.

The broadcaster said it was making the change because it was “the optimal pattern to keep home audiences engaged and attract new viewers in a highly saturated content market”, based on data from Channel 4.

They claim that their research shows that most regular soap viewers watch an average of three episodes per week.

The actress, who has played Mercedes on the Channel 4 soap since 2006, will take on the challenging new storyline as a new mother battling cancer after the time jump

Jennifer has revealed it was difficult to film the emotional scenes when her father Colin died when she was just 15 after suffering from the disease

She said, ‘You have people who say, “I can’t do that because I’ve been through that and I don’t want to play into that.” I never grieved for my father. That’s pure grief, what we saw there. Pure therapy and the rest of it.’

Lime Pictures managing directors Kate Little and Claire Poyser said: “Given the success of the new streaming-first model, we’re delighted that Hollyoaks continues to lead Channel 4’s digital-first strategy. We’re bringing authentic, unexpected and untold stories that inspire younger audiences in a way they want to consume.

‘It is clear that this has implications and that we need to rethink the production model for Hollyoaks. Given the good news about the future of the show and its audience, we also need to recognise that reducing the cast and crew will be very difficult. We will support everyone through that process.’

The cuts have forced Channel 4 bosses to make mass layoffs of cast and crew.