Leanne is from the fictional town of Bradington in the North of England. She has a daughter, Kia, who is seven years old. She has never told anyone who Kia’s father is; she wanted to bring her up on her own. Leanne worked in clubs and bars from the age of fourteen and was spotted by a glamour model at sixteen, when she was brought to London to become a Page Three favourite. Now at the age of twenty-five, Leanne’s work is drying up. Younger, prettier girls are taking her place and she is at a loose end with her life. Whilst Leanne never adjusted to life in London, she felt far enough away from her family, she hoped, not to get dragged back into their trouble. But trouble has a way of following the Cromptons wherever they live.
Leanne’s mum, Tracy, is forty-eight and still lives in Bradington with her four other kids: Markie, 30, Scott, 27, Karina, 23 and Jodie, 21, who all live nearby.
Tracy doesn’t work. She was signed off sick fifteen years ago and that suits her fine. It means that she can keep a close, emotionally blackmailing eye on her family. Tracy thinks that her kids owe her for the fact that she had them. She lives with Kent Gresham (real name Geoff) who is a local radio DJ. Tracy liked his voice so much that she rang the station and asked him out. Much to the annoyance of her then husband Paul, who, after putting a brick through all of her windows, has continued to run a hate campaign against his ex that has landed him in prison and given Tracy a severe pain in the neck.
Scott is a trier. He’s worked in every factory in Bradington and is always on the look out for the next quick buck. He always has some knock off gear in the boot of his C reg BMW but his girlfriend, Charly, is bleeding him dry and he needs to get money from somewhere to keep her in the designer gear that she has acquired a taste for. Charly hates Tracy – Scott’s mum – and the feeling is mutual. Scott wants them to get on, but this will never happen.
Paul, Leanne’s dad, tried to pass himself off as her agent at first when he realised there might be money to make out of his teenage daughter taking her top off. She soon put a stop to that. Paul is on the dole and always has been, but has outrageous views on anyone who can’t trace their family back to the Magna Carta. He is a bit of a joke within his family, but he isn’t to be underestimated – he’s dangerous because he’s an emotional wreck.
Markie has been in and out of prison. He started off stealing high performance cars for fifty pounds a throw and was soon earning three hundred pounds a day. He was in Grantly Young Offenders by the time he was sixteen. He has two kids that he knows of but rarely sees: Chanese and Roshell. He is just about to marry his girlfriend Mandy when we first meet him but that doesn’t stop him calling in ‘favours’ from the girls at the Massage Parlour that he jointly owns with Mac ‘The Knife’ Trickett, a big time Manchester gangster. Well, big time as far as the small time Markie is concerned anyway.
Karina hates Leanne, but that doesn’t stop her trading on her sister’s name at any given opportunity. She is a big fish in a small pond. Her boyfriend Gaz is a bouncer at Bradington’s no. 1 night spot, Cloud Nine. He spends his time running small amounts of drugs and pretending to be Scarface.
Jodie works in The Beacon, the local pub, but has her sights set on the same career as Leanne. When a local manager comes in the pub and asks to represent her, Jodie is over the moon. But she soon finds herself working as an escort and realising that this means more than going out for meals and being the pretty face on the arm of a business man...
