London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Tracy Beaker: Actress Dani Harmer trolled online with 'fat' comments

Tracy Beaker: Actress Dani Harmer trolled online with 'fat' comments

As Tracy Beaker, Dani Harmer has played one of the most iconic roles in children's TV for nearly two decades.

CBBC says her most recent three-part series, My Mum Tracy Beaker, has been its most successful programme launch ever.

But Dani says abusive online comments she's received about her appearance has taken some of the shine off its success.

"It shouldn't affect me but I'm a human being," she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

Although she says the overwhelming majority of opinions have been positive, a small minority are "horrible" and are the ones she thinks about when she goes to bed.

"I am an actor and I'm used to criticism. But that doesn't mean a random person can sit behind their keyboard and let me know that I'm fat."

Dani was 13 when she debuted as Tracy Beaker in 2002, at a time when social media barely existed.

"I was so lucky because I don't know if my skin would have been thick enough to have dealt with it back then."

She's urging people to be kinder on social platforms and says it's taken her a long time to find her voice and "speak up things I don't agree with".

"Social media should be such a positive place but at the moment I don't want to even open my phone. I've just got such bad anxiety that someone's going to say something.

"Life is hard enough as it is. Let's spread some positivity and not make it harder for each other. We don't want a repeat of what happened to Caroline Flack. She was such a lovely woman."

She understands that sometimes people are "trying to get a rise" out of her but it's hard "not to respond back".

"I'm 32 now. I can't even imagine what younger people have to go through."

Although if we're talking about Tracy, you can imagine the two words she'd say to those people: "BOG OFF."

Justine Littlewood (Montanna Thompson, left) comes face-to-face with Tracy again

In the latest series, Tracy's 10-year-old daughter Jess deals with the arrival of her mum's new boyfriend Sean, played by Jordan Duvigneau.

Dani's now a parent herself and admits that although it completely changes you as a person you "really don't lose your true self".

"I knew I wanted to keep Tracy exactly how she was but I also wanted to show she had matured and was being less selfish.

"Since I've been doing this, it's always been nice to have a strong female character on kids' TV. She's bossy, sassy and knows exactly what she wants."

The fans also went into overdrive when she came face to face with her old nemesis from the foster home Justine Littlewood, played by Montanna Thompson.

The BBC says on iPlayer, My Mum Tracy Beaker was streamed 2.1m times in its first three days of availability (12-14 February).

"I never expected those numbers," says Dani.

"I've been so overwhelmed I can barely speak."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×