Hold onto your childhoods – in a good way, don’t worry – because we’ve been on the trail of two of the most iconic characters of our youth and it turns out they’re still bezzie mates.
There’s no denying that OG Tracy Beaker – which was rebooted earlier this year,following a grown up Tracey and her own daughter Jess as they navigate the highs and lows of life – provided a large part of the backdrop to our childhoods and we grew up thinking of Tracy and the other kids at The Dumping Ground as our friends.
So it’s great news to learn that Jack Edwards, who played Marco Maloney, and Holly Gibbs, who played his painfully quiet adoptive sister Millie, are still the best of pals.
Awwh.
As part of her new TikTok series From Early, Holly – who also had a starring role in 2005’s Nanny McPhee – met up with her former on-screen brother in a park to discuss their unusual (and, as the name suggests) early starts in their careers.
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1 of 16Dani Harmer as Tracy Beaker
Dani Harmer played the iconic role of Tracy Beaker in The Story of Tracy Beaker, Tracy Beaker Returns and The Tracy Beaker Survival Files from 2002 all the way up until 2012.
2 of 16Dani Harmer now
After Tracy Beaker, Dani went on to star in several other TV shows as well as her own CBBC show Dani's House, which was followed by Dani's Castle in 2013. In 2012 she came 4th on Strictly Come Dancing. Dani gave birth to her daughter, Avarie-Belle Betsy Rachel Brough, in June 2016.
3 of 16Lisa Coleman as Cam Lawson
Poor Cam had a bit of a tough time constantly being told to 'bog off' by a moody Tracy. Eventually, Tracy realised Cam's heart was in the right place and Cam became Tracy's foster mum.
4 of 16Lisa Coleman now
As well as reprising her role as Cam in Tracy Beaker Survival Files, Lisa as went on to star in other shows such as Hollyoaks, Casualty and EastEnders.
5 of 16Montanna Thomson as Justine Littlewood
Montanna played Dumping Ground resident and Tracy's frenemy Justine Littlewood. She originally auditioned for the lead role of Tracy, but it was decided she was a better fit as feisty Justine.
6 of 16Montanna Thompson now
Montanna has since appeared in TV shows such as Casualty, Sugar Rush, The Last Detective and Doctors. She's also had a son and most recently appeared in horror film Kill or Be Killed, quite different from her TB days.
7 of 16Nisha Nayar as Elaine Boyak aka Elaine the Pain
Social worker Elaine got a lot of stick from Tracy and the rest of the kids at the dumping ground, but let's be honest she was bit of a pain, wasn't she?
8 of 16Nisha Nayar now
Following her role as Elaine the Pain (she'll never shake that name, tbh), Nisha appeared in episodes of Doctor Who, The Bill and Doctors.
9 of 16Clive Rowe as Duke Ellington
Duke was a care-worker at the Dumping Ground and responsible for cooking up a storm for the kids. He had a somewhat strained working relationship with Elaine the Pain.
10 of 16Clive Rowe now
Clive has also starred in episodes of Doctor Who and even landed small roles in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and 2017's Beauty And The Beast film starring Emma Watson.He's appeared in several West End theatre productions and is a regular on the pantomime circuit.
11 of 16Darragh Mortell as Crash
Tracy and Liam aka Crash didn't get off to the best of starts in The Story of Tracy Beaker but later became one of her best friends in the Dumping Ground.
12 of 16Darragh Mortell now
Darragh joined Dani Harmer in her CBBC show Dani's House. He also stared in Casualty and Hollyoaks. As well as acting, Darragh is a 'TV writer and visual story teller' according to his Twitter bio.
13 of 16Craig Roberts as Rio Wellard
Rio was a bit of a bully to begin with, and fell out with Crash. But after a while, he softened and they became good friends.
14 of 16Craig Roberts now
From The Dumping Ground to Hollywood, Craig has gone on to star in a number of films including Submarine in 2010, as well as 22 Jump Street and the film version of John Niven's Kill Your Friends.
15 of 16Rochelle Gadd as Adele Azupadi
Adele was the It girl of the Dumping Ground and oldest member of the squad. She appeared on the show for series one and two.
16 of 16Rochelle Gadd now
Rochelle played Olivia Johnson in Hollyoaks and has also played small roles in other shows like Doctors and the TV show Suspicion.
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PSA: You can now watch every episode of Tracy Beaker on BBC iPlayer
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Speaking of how he was cast in the ICONIQUE kids favourite, Jack – who joined the cast age nine - explained how he’d initially missed the first round of auditions at his local theatre school as he’d been away on holiday, but his mum managed to pull a few strings to get him along to the second one.
“They asked me to be a dog,” he said. “So I spent five minutes on the floor pretending to be a dog, licking the producers feet – no lines – I got recalled, obviously. And then I think they did a little screen test, and the rest is history.”
He added, “Here I am. Unemployed.”
But as we all know, kids can be cruel and Jack explained that going back to school after he made his telly debut wasn’t always easy.
“I do remember when it first began being shown, everyone was really excited,” he continued. “But soon after, I wouldn’t say kids were jealous but I had to be very careful not to show off.
“I actually got beaten up once by another kid, during filming on series four, and I had a big scar on my forehead that make up had to cover up.
“Kids were mean!”
Our hearts are breaking for baby Marco Maloney.
The TV reboot came three years after Jaqueline Wilson – author of the original Tracy Beaker children’s books and tonnes of others including The Suitcase Kid, The Illustrated Mum and Girls in Love – released the sequel to the much loved series called My Mum Tracy Beaker.
“When I realised just how long ago it was since I wrote the first Tracy Beaker book, I thought: if we were in real time, Tracy herself would be in her 30s,” Jaqueline told The Observer.
“I’ve always thought that, even though Tracy had lots of problems in her life and a pretty rubbish mum who was never there for her, Tracy herself would be a good mum, no matter what.”