I shot to fame on Tracy Beaker but I’ve left it behind me and sell saucy snaps online, I’m not doing it for the cash
FROM Bella Thorne to Kerry Katona, it’s not unusual to spot some of your favourite celebs on OnlyFans.
And while for former glamour model Kerry posing for saucy snaps might come as second nature, for other members it’s a radical career move.
In fact when Richard Wisker joined the site last year, he left his fans gobsmacked having made his name as a baby faced star on a popular CBBC show.
“I was a child star on Tracy Beaker Returns,” he explains in this exclusive interview.
“I played cheeky chappy Liam O’Donovan on the hit show. Now I’m a hit on Only Fans.
“I made thousands playing Liam in the hit show but now my fans are in their twenties. My fans wanted more, and I wanted to give them more.
“Posing nude or implied nude on for the subscription-based content platform was easier to do than stripping to my boxers for an in-person audition.
“I called the shots, and the shots were amazing.”
Richard, 28, who lives in Newham, East London, played Liam in the Tracy Beaker spin off for eight years.
During the time Richard spent on the program his character Liam built strong friendships with most of the kids.
“He was naughty and well liked. He’d been given up for adoption by his mother and sent to multiple foster homes,” says Richard.
“I loved playing Liam. It was a breakthrough role for me.”
Richard had his first taste of television fame when he landed a small role in ITV1’s The Bill in 2008. He also appeared in Law & Order UK.
“Then I was asked to audition at the age of seven for Tracy Beaker Returns. I went to White City BBC studios. I had eight call backs and when I got the role, I was ecstatic.
Richard was living with his mum and dad in East London and had been acting and dancing since he could walk.
“Tracy Beaker was filmed in Newcastle,” he says.
“I had chaperones in the group house and lived with the other actors while we filmed each series.
“Instead of school we had private tutors. We’d have ‘school time’ and ‘’acting time,” he says.
From 2010 to 2012, the child star took on the leading part of Liam in CBBC’s Tracy Beaker Returns.
Then from 2013 to 2019 he reprised the role of Liam for the show’s spin-off The Dumping Ground.
“That was a busy time for me,” he says.
I didn’t earn a Hollywood salary. None of us did
Richard Wisker
“Most kids were finishing primary school and starting high school. I was appearing on two dramas, and I presented CBBC’s Friday Download.
“I didn’t earn a Hollywood salary. None of us did.
“My parents let me use some of the money for holidays to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Spain and Greece. I bought nice clothes and enjoyed myself.
“But my mum and dad made sure I learnt to respect money.”
In March 2012, Wisker released his debut single and held a signing at Stratford Centre.
From 2013 to 2015, Wisker portrayed Rich in CBBC comedy Dani’s Castle.
He appeared in the hit ITV drama Casualty, had a lead role in Flatmates on the BBC and a regular role on the children’s drama Millie In Between.
In 2017 Richard signed up for the movie Supernova.
“I am lucky I have been in demand for work ever since Tracy Beaker Returns,” he says.
“I have gone from child actor to adult actor. It’s taken work. Some actors don’t make the adjustment. I am blessed I did,” he says.
Then in May 2023 Richard took on a role many didn’t see coming.
“I signed up for Only Fans and it’s been amazing,” he says.
While many people assume Richard decided to get his kit off because he needed the cash, they’d be wrong.
“That wasn’t the reason. The real reason actually gobsmacks many people,” he says.
“I was researching a role in which the character was an OnlyFans star.
“I wanted the character to have depth, so I set myself a challenge.
“I signed up to OnlyFans as a pre-audition to audition for the role. I wanted to learn what all the fuss was about.
“I wanted to experience the emotions of someone who uses the platform.
“It was the best decision I ever made. It’s been an acting lesson that I got paid for.”
What the rest of the Tracy Beaker cast have been up to
Richard’s former cast mates on Tracy Beaker also seem very busy in their careers.
Dani Harman, the lead actress of the former BBC show, joined Strictly in 2012 and then recently graced the theatre stage.
The 34-year-old most recently made a comeback as Tracy for the new spin-off show My Mum Tracy Beaker.
Meanwhile, Tracy Beaker alum Chelsie Padley, who played Louise Goven on The Story Of Tracy Beaker when it first aired back in 2002, announced that she had given birth to her first child last year.
In August 2023, she took to Instagram and shared the happy news of her new arrival.
She posted a snap of the newborn and gushed in the caption: “GOLDIE RAYNER GEORGE. Hi world, I couldn’t wait to meet my Mummy and Daddy any longer, so on Tuesday, when I was 36+1 | gave them a little surprise… 15/08/23. 6lbs 12oz.
“Pure perfection, we are beyond besotted.”
Chelsie also revealed at the time that the tot she shared with fiancé Iain George was born with jaundice.
According to Richard he signed up to the platform and initially just looked at other people’s profiles.
“I was amazed at all the different shapes and sizes of men and women putting themselves out there on the platform,” he says.
“I loved the fact it was from the safety of your own home. I felt I’d be a fraud if I didn’t do it myself for the role I was trying out for.”
Richard had friends take ‘almost nude’ or implied nude photos for him.
“I didn’t go full frontal but the images are sexy and enticing,” he says.
“I had fun doing it, posing in my Calvin Kleins and buffing up to look hot on a sunbed was fun.
“Some people thought I’d be letting down the fans I had as a child actor. Instead, I was inundated with followers.
“My childhood fans have grown up with me. Like me they’re adults now and they loved the fact I had the guts to put myself out there.”
Richard was flooded with compliments and messages from men and women saying he’d inspired them to learn to love their own bodies.
Richard also received marriage proposals.
“Yes, I had a few marriage proposals from women who said I’d make a hot husband,” he says.
“I said no but thanked them for their kind words, same goes for anyone who asks me out on a date.
“The rule is no in-person meeting. OnlyFans are strict about that, and it keeps everyone safe. I only have praise for the platform’s rules.”
Richard chose not to post video or ‘go live’ on the platform.
“I wanted to control my content,” he says.
“Before I started I knew I wouldn’t do full nude no matter what. I also kept in mind It was a research role.
“I loved it. If people want to give it a go, I say do it. But be careful, set your limits and stick to them.”
“I didn’t make masses of cash on OnlyFans. I know people assume that. I made enough to have a nice holiday in Greece. I didn’t do it for the cash.
Richard is now preparing for a new role.
He says: “My next project is about an online gamer. I am ‘going subversive’ into the world of VR gaming and headsets.
“My OnlyFans experience taught me to live the role before acting it and who knows I just may turn up in an online game you’re playing.”
