Mia McKenna-Bruce reveals she spent nearly a decade partying and spending all her savings from her role on Tracy Beaker after years of ‘being careful as a BBC ambassador’

Mia McKenna-Bruce has revealed she spent nearly a decade partying and spending her savings from her role on Tracy Beaker Returns after years of being ‘careful’ as a BBC child star.

The actress, 28, starred in the series until she was 18, and has now shared that after struggling with the ‘hell’ of auditions, moved to Australia where she spent eight years travelling and partying.

Mia revealed that her wild 20s were a contrast to the pressure of being seen as ‘an ambassador to the BBC’ during her time on Tracy Beaker, with it forcing her to be careful about her behaviour and comments on social media.

The star had decided to quit acting after leaving the family show, but decided to return to the profession in 2019.

Following that, she landed a critically-acclaimed role in the film How To Save Sex, for which she was given the BAFTA Rising Star Award, and this year she’s starring in the Netflix series Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials.

Reflecting on her time as a child star, Mia said she decided to quit her agent and leaving acting when she finished work on Tracey Beaker Returns telling The Sunday Times Culture Magazine: ‘I was doing auditions and it was hell. Absolute hell. 

Mia McKenna-Bruce has revealed she spent nearly a decade partying and spending her savings from Tracy Beaker Returns of years of being careful (pictured in How To Have Sex)

The actress, 28, starred in the series until she was 18, before moving to Australia where she spent eight years travelling and partying

‘I was auditioning with people that had been to drama school and I didn’t know how to talk about character or how to approach a script,’ she says. ‘I’d be having a panic attack before and after. My dad said to me one day, ”Why are you still doing it?”

The actress said she quit her agent and moved to Australia with her best pal Georgia, and despite plans to only spend a month there, ended up living Down Under for eight years.

Detailing how she let loose after years of being careful, she added: ‘[On Tracy Beaker] we were constantly told, even when we’re not on the job we’re ambassadors for the BBC. 

‘I think someone once posted a swear word on my Instagram and the BBC got in touch with my agent and said, ”She needs to take it down.”’

Mia has landed the leading role of Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brent in Netflix’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, as she sets out to solve an enigmatic murder. 

Helena Bonham Carter stars as Bundle’s mother, Lady Caterham, and Martin Freeman is the stoical Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard whom Bundle is always trying to outmanoeuvre. 

The series’ trailer begins at a masquerade ball in the mid-1920s, where the handsome Gerry Wade is seen flirting and dancing with Bundle, before being interrupted right as it seems he is about to propose.

However, the next morning the household are disturbed by the noise of a cacophony of alarm clocks from Gerry’s room, sparking the ire of Lady Caterham.

A shocked and devastated Bundle investigates only to find her future fiancé lying dead in his bed, with seven clocks arranged on his mantelpiece.

Mia revealed that her wild 20s were a contrast to the pressure of being seen as ‘an ambassador to the BBC’, and it was during her time abroad she decided to return to acting

Mia has landed the leading role of Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brent in Netflix’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, as she sets out to solve an enigmatic murder

Channelling her grief and despair into vengeance, she vows to uncover who is responsible for Gerry’s death, telling her mother: ‘I’m not going to rest until I find out what happened to him’.

The timeless mystery has been reimagined for a modern audience by Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall and is directed and executive produced by Chris Sweeney.

Speaking about the ways they’ve adapted it, Mia told Tudum: ‘It was really important to make Agatha Christie feel accessible to people who hadn’t read her work but also hold on to the heart of those murder mysteries. I really feel like we did what we set out to do.’

While she explained how her character, Bundle, also behaves differently to how upper-class women were expected to in the 1920s.

It marks the latest adaptation of one of the Queen of Crime’s novels for the small screen, following a slew of versions by the BBC, including Witness For The Prosecution, And Then There Were None and last year’s Towards Zero.