The cast of The Story of Tracy Beaker have gone on to star in ITV dramas and BBC sci-fi shows - but some retired from acting entirely.
Alongside the likes of My Parents are Aliens and Mona the Vampire, The Story of Tracy Beaker was essential after-school viewing for a generation of youngsters. Based on the series of novels by author Jacqueline Wilson, the CBBC adaptation followed Tracy as she navigated her care home, The Dumping Ground, forever waiting for the return of her "Hollywood actress" mother.
Despite the foundation of the series appearing bleak, the show was packed full of rowdy, confrontational characters that British kids fell in love with. The continuous turnover of actors meant new faces cropping up from time to time and paving the way for more attitude-laced shenanigans including accidental kitchen fires and forced bug-eating contests.
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The original series wrapped in 2006 before coming back for a follow-up, Tracy Beaker Returns, in 2010 which saw the star much older and trying to prevent the Dumping Ground from closing. A further ten years on, Dani rekindled her role as the troubled throwaway child but this time, with a daughter of her own in My Mum Tracy Beaker.
Stepping away from the dumping ground, Dani appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2012 where she finished fourth place. She noted the experience was somewhat traumatic for her as, despite being a size 6, she was bombarded with comments about her image. Speaking to Radio Times, she said: "I got so many messages, people telling me that I’m fat, that I’m overweight and I was like a size six at the time.
"I can think of things really logically and be like, obviously, I'm not fat, that's ridiculous. This person, obviously, is just bored, or has something wrong with their life that they feel like this is the only way they can get some validation and I actually feel sorry for them."
Four years later, Dani gave birth to her daughter, Avarie-Belle Betsy Rachel Brough, to her partner Simon Brough. Last year she welcomed the second addition to her family, Rowan Leon James Brough, before she admitted being a mother is more difficult than any role she could ever have.
Though Dani has kept Tracy near and dear to her heart, her co-stars have ventured on to follow vastly different careers.
Justine Littlewood ( Montanna Thompson)
Tracy and Justine's rivalry was the stuff of legend as neither of them ever settled without getting one up on the other. Between fist fights, food fights and nonstop arguments, their characters were continuously at each other's throats.
Montanna reprised her role as the fiery rival several times for follow-up seasons. In My Mum Tracy Beaker, Justine was still on top form as it appeared nothing had changed over the years, nor did she age a day since the original series.
She reprised her character in the third series of The Dumping Ground when Justine asked Mike to give her away at her wedding. In real life, Montanna went on to star in The Last Detective, Sugar Rush, Doctors, Casualty and Close Relations
Montanna also became a mum when she welcomed a baby boy in 2017.
Rio Wellard (Craig Roberts)
Possibly the biggest star to have come out of the show, Craig Roberts was one third of the pesky Wellard trio. Rio was the dumbest of the siblings and seemed the biggest bully on the outside, but really he was actually quite kind.
After leaving the Dumping Ground in 2005, actor Craig went on to become a big name in Hollywood. His big break came in 2010 with the coming-of-age drama Submarine, which also featured a soundtrack by Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner.
He then appeared in BBC Three series Being Human as a young vampire and went on to be the main character in the spin-off series Becoming Human. As well as having roles in Skins, Casualty and the Horrible Histories Movie, Craig starred in big comedy movies Bad Neighbours and 22 Jump Street.
The actor has also appeared in the music video for The Killers' Here With Me and Manic Street Preacher's Show Me Wonder. Between 2014 and 2017 he played David Myers in Amazon series Red Oaks and in 2015, made his directorial debut with Just Jim.
Norman 'Duke' Ellington (Clive Rowe)
Duke was everyone's favourite care worker, who got his nickname from the jazz musician with the same surname. No one ever went hungry in the Dumping Ground as Duke was always cooking up a feast and growing his own vegetables in the garden.
Actor Clive Rowe appeared in the very first episode and left at the end of series 4, with Duke going off to visit his family in the Caribbean.
Clive appeared in a 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special, Doctors, The Kennedys and BBC drama All the Small Things. The film star was also on the big screen in 2005 flick Manderlay and played Cuisinier in the 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.
Elaine 'The Pain' Boyak (Nisha Nayar)
Possibly the most annoying person in the Tracy Beaker universe, Elaine got her nickname for a very good reason. Elaine was a care worker who appeared in the first five series of the show and not much is known about what happened to her next.
Actress Nisha Nayar went on to star in two episodes of Doctor Who in 2005 as well as Casualty, Doctors and The Bill. She's also a familiar voice on the radio having recorded over 100 dramas for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service.
Most recently she starred in ITV crime drama The Bay in 2019 and the short sci-fi thriller Chronos. Nisha will be back in the role of Elaine for the new Tracy Beaker spin-off series.
Louise Govern (Chelsea Padley)
Louise was Tracy's best friend until Justine came along and stole her away, causing a lot of jealousy and rows. Despite being fostered in series 2, Louise returned for guest appearances to visit her old pals.
Since leaving the show, 28-year-old Chelsie's life is a world away from her days as an actress. The former child star, who was just 10 when she first appeared on the show, is now a qualified fitness instructor with her own company, Fit Peach Fitness.
Her mantra is 'strong is the new skinny' and she's qualified to teach HITT and Zumba, regularly sharing videos, tips and selfies with her 11,000 Instagram followers.
Cam Lawson (Lisa Coleman)
The struggling author first arrived to read stories to the kids but ended up fostering one of them. Cam and Tracy had a roller coaster journey, with furious rows, a house fire and a lot of slamming doors.
However, Cam adopted Tracy in the end and actually went on to become a successful writer. Actress Lisa Coleman reprised her role for Tracy Beaker Returns between 2010 and 2012.
This time around, Cam was furious when Tracy used her credit card to publish her own autobiography and got a job in New York. Lisa, who has been in Casualty and The Bill played Morag in four episodes of Hollyoaks in 2011. She was back once again in My Mum Tracy Beaker.
Layla (Cara Readle)
Welsh actress Cara Readle played the role of Layla from series three to five. Cara has cerebral palsy and has gone on to play other characters with the same condition in Siz Zag Love and Casualty.
She shared her experiences with cerebral palsy with BBC Ouch! and has opened up on her acting career. Cara also played a troubled teenager in the BBC Wales series Barker Boys and in featured in an episode of Sky’s The Smoke, alongside Jodie Whittaker, back in 2014.
Bradley 'Bouncer' Paklova (Ben Hanson)
Bouncer was the big, lovable kid who appeared from series 2 to 5. While not the brightest spark, Bouncer had a heart of gold and loved the Dumping Ground so much that he came back to work as a chef.
In real life, Ben Hanson stopped acting and went down a very different career path. On his Instagram, we can see Ben has changed quite a bit over the years as he is now a qualified personal trainer. Ben has revealed he is also an estate agent on his Twitter bio.
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