Lauren Harries

Lauren Charlotte Harries[1] (born 6 March 1978[2] as James Charles Harries) is a British television personality. As a child she was known for her knowledge of antiques, appearing on numerous television shows including After Dark and Wogan.[3] In later life, she is known for her appearances on television series such as Celebrity Big Brother, Big Brother's Bit on the Side and This Morning.

Lauren Harries
Harries in 2019
Born
James Harries

(1978-03-06) 6 March 1978
OccupationTelevision personality
Years active1988–present

Early life

Harries' father, Mark Harries, worked in the hotel business and catering trade.[4] The family moved to Cardiff when Harries was still a baby. From the age of five, she enjoyed art and antiques, and had an apparent ability to spot bargains at local jumble sales and second-hand shops.

Early career
Harries appearing on After Dark on 23 March 1991, aged 13

Harries began making television appearances in August 1988 on Terry Wogan's chat show,[2] Wogan. The then ten-year-old[2] demonstrated a good knowledge of antiques. At 13, she wrote an antique guide, Rags to Riches.[5][6]

Later career

In 2004, after Harries had undergone sex reassignment, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary Little Lady Fauntleroy made by actor Keith Allen in which he interviewed the Harries family.[7] The documentary was released on DVD on 4 July 2005. In October 2006, Harries appeared in the Channel 5 television series Trust Me – I'm a Beauty Therapist,[8] which was filmed on location in a beauty therapist's in Swansea, Wales. In November 2008, Harries was featured as a cover girl in the specialist lifestyle magazine Transliving.[9]

In August 2013, Harries became a housemate on the twelfth series of Celebrity Big Brother.[10] She finished in third place.[11] In September 2013, she appeared on Celebrity Juice.[12] Her debut single "I Am a Woman" was released in January 2015.[13] Harries released a follow-up single, "Upadoo" in May 2018. In August 2019, Harries made an appearance on the Channel 4 dating series Naked Attraction.[14]

Personal life

Harries' schooling suffered from the heightened publicity. By the age of 14, Harries suffered depression and agoraphobia, which led to a nervous breakdown and suicide attempt.[15] Media opportunities and resulting business reduced as Harries grew up.[4] In the recession of the early 1990s, the family's businesses failed. One family shop was destroyed by fire, and her father was convicted of insurance fraud. Harries sold some of her collections to assist in the support of the family.[4][5] Harries then took three GCSEs after home tutoring.[16]

As a child, Harries had been taken by her family to see a doctor because she displayed feminine mannerisms. Later, Harries decided to transition from male to female, change her name to Lauren Charlotte,[3] and investigated gender reassignment surgery, which was carried out in 2001.[2] Funding for this was generated from publicity arranged by Max Clifford.[4]

On 8 July 2005, a group of five to seven men attacked Harries, her father and her brother in the family home.[17] One 17-year-old boy was later fined and given a supervision order for his role in the incident.[18]

gollark: That could admittedly be said of any letter.
gollark: Because they're something like, er, 1/31 of all codes.
gollark: Are CB hollies *that in-demand*?
gollark: Give them a billion CB golds, simple.
gollark: The difference being that the second kind has the code in it and so allows giving views.

References
  1. "Two Programmes – Where Are They Now?, Lauren Harries". BBC. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  2. "Transsexual to move to 'safer' LA". BBC News. 6 September 2005. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  3. "Interview: James Harries, teenage antiques expert | The Guardian | guardian.co.uk". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  4. Seaton, Matt (13 April 2001). "Just call me Lauren". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  5. Stuart, Julia (13 April 2001). "The boy in the made-up world". The Independent (subscription required). Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  6. Harries, James Charles (1991). Rags to Riches (2nd ed.). Cardiff: Adviser and Weekly News. ISBN 1873798008.
  7. Joe Joseph (29 June 2004). "TV Review". The Times. London. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  8. Rachel Mainwaring (15 October 2006). "Sweet link for sexy Welshies". icWales. Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  9. "Stacy gets up close and personal with TS celebrity Lauren Harries". Transliving. No. 27. Transliving International Magazine. November 2008. ISSN 1746-8329. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  10. "About Lauren". bbspy. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  11. "'Celebrity Big Brother' Final: 'Geordie Shore' Star Charlotte Crosby Crowned Winner". The Huffington Post. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  12. "Celebrity Juice 2013: Lauren Harries talks about 'having sex' with Russell Brand". One News Page. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  13. "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  14. "Lauren Harries to be first celebrity on Naked Attraction". FemaleFirst. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  15. Anna Hammond, South Wales Echo (13 July 2005). "Sex change ex-child star in brutal attack – Wales News". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  16. "Interview: James Harries, teenage antiques expert | The Guardian". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  17. Anna Hammond (13 July 2005). "Sex change ex-child star brutally attacked". icWales. Archived from the original on 17 February 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2007.
  18. Gareth Llewellyn (19 September 2005). "Youth who attacked transsexual spared jail". icWales. Archived from the original on 17 February 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2007.
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