A former CBBC child star who became famous for one of the most iconic roles of the 00s has revealed her perimenopause diagnosis at age 36.
Dani Harmer rose to fame playing Tracy Beaker on award-winning kids’ show The Story of Tracy Beaker, which ran between 2002 and 2005.
Based on the book of the same name by Dame Jacqueline Wilson, The Story of Tracy Beaker followed the lives of a group of kids living at a children’s home they dubbed ‘the Dumping Ground’.
Across its five series, the show was nominated for five children’s Baftas and became one of the most-watched and best-remembered CBBC shows of the era.
Now, 20 years on from her TV fame, Dani has revealed she has been diagnosed with perimenopause after noticing hair-related symptoms.
She posted a video on TikTok in which she asked for advice: ‘I have been diagnosed with perimenopause. And what I need your help with is my hair.’
In the video, Dani pulled back some of her hair to reveal that her famous curly locks, which became Tracy Beaker’s signature style, were thinning out.
Dani continued: ‘I am losing it – it is thinning so badly you can see, like, the bald patches coming in, but just, like, the texture. It’s thinning – it’s bad, right?’
‘[Extensions] could be a terrible idea. They might make my hair even worse, to be honest, but it’s really getting me down now,’ she admitted to her followers.
Talking about her diagnosis, Dani revealed that it was her husband, Simon, who encouraged her to get a diagnosis after her ‘whole personality had pretty much changed’.
She also revealed that she had been struggling with episodes of depression and anxiety, as well as night sweats, sleep interruptions, and brain fog.
‘There was just too much to ignore,’ she added. ‘I felt like I was being possessed by someone else; it was horrible – I was just getting deeper and deeper into a dark depression.’
Dani then said she is now managing her symptoms with HRT, which her doctors were more than happy to provide her with following a crucial appointment.
Away from the cameras, Dani shares two children with Simon – son Leon, who was born in 2022, and daughter Averie-Belle, who was born in 2017.
So loved was the Tracy Beaker series that it was rebooted in 2010 under the name Tracy Beaker Returns, which saw Tracy become an assistant care worker at the Dumping Ground.
Dani then starred in The Tracy Beaker Survival Files from 2011 to 2012, My Mum Tracy Beaker in 2021, and The Beaker Girls between 2021 and 2023.
A spin-off series titled The Dumping Ground began in 2013, featuring different characters, and has subsequently run for 13 more series to great success.
Dani appeared on the series as a guest star in 2018 and reprised her role once more earlier this year, even directing an episode of the spin-off programme.
She said of her experience: ‘I loved being behind the scenes for an episode – it was very different being sat in the director’s chair, but I enjoyed every single second of it – it felt like that was where I was meant to be!’
Watch episodes of The Story of Tracy Beaker on BBC iPlayer.
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