The hit TV show World’s Strictest Parents captivated the nation for three years when it aired from 2008 to 2011.

The BBC Three hit, focused on taking unruly teens away from their exhausted British parents and sent to far away countries – with much stricter discipline in the hopes of changing their wicked ways.

Teens on the show were famed for their terrible tantrums, blazing screaming matches, and often came with a defiant taste for booze and cigarettes. 

One wayward youngster even boasted to the cameras that he wanted to watch his parents burn, ‘then take a picture of it’.

The international television franchise reality series was originally broadcast on BBC Three but went on to tackle tumultuous teenagers in countries across the world series based in Australia, New Zealand and even Germany.

The teens who were on the show are now all adults, so where have some of them ended up now? 

Here FEMAIL takes a look at the very different paths of the children – from becoming TikTok stars to parents to one award-winning filmmaker.

Bryony Anne Harris: Angry teen sent to Argentina is now a chilled out mother-of-two

Bryony Anne Harris, from West Sussex, couldn’t stand to be at school when she was on the show aged just 16 in 2011.

Known for her explosive outbursts, Bryony had been expelled from various schools before she picked up the phone to BBC producers and told them ‘I am going to be on your show’.

However, her experience on the show was anything but strict, and Bryony walked away with a set of parents she now considers ‘family’, having had an experience that was ‘amazing’. 

‘It was just good weather sort of a holiday,’ the now 29-year-old confessed. 

Recalling her unruly behaviour when the programme was filmed, Bryony told FEMAIL: ‘I didn’t enjoy mainstream school, I was always being put in isolation for misbehaving and disrupting classes.’

Surprisingly, Bryony had been the one to sign herself up for the show, skipping through the application online and going straight to the producers, who she phoned and insisted ‘I am going to be on your show’.

The very next day, camera people arrived at her house and began filming and she had been sent to Argentina within a month. 

‘It was very quick, I didn’t even have a passport so I went to London and they sorted me one on the day,’ she explained.

The raucous teen was sent to live with Gonzalo and Guadalupe Bustamante and their two sons in Argentina. 

While some defiant teens on the show were hesitant to make the move, Bryony, who had arranged to go on the show herself, was ‘excited’ and couldn’t wait to get on TV.

‘I always wanted to be on telly when I was a child,’ she admitted. 

The excitement was mixed with nerves, however, since she ‘had no idea where Argentina was’. 

During her time on the show, Bryony was allowed to be herself – most of the time.

‘I was always myself unless they told me to do something else, because it was quite scripted.’ 

Dozens of rows had to be reshot on camera, with tense moments have usually been rerun several times.

However, Bryony’s experience wasn’t as tough as the show would have viewers believe, she said.

‘There was a lot they didn’t film, mostly the good bits with is being a family,’ she said. 

And there were plenty of positive moments that Bryony still treasures to this day. 

‘I just remember us all sitting around watching telly, they didn’t film that bit.’

‘There’s one bit where they sent me to a school in Argentina and obviously I got kicked out of that as well but after that, we were meant to get sent home but we didn’t. We just went shopping and had a McDonald’s.’

‘On the last day of the trip, I went shopping with the family and they bought me jeans!’ she said. 

‘It was so much fun. We went out for meals and lunches all the time and that was never filmed. We had one night in a steakhouse and it was such a laugh.’

Bryony said wasn’t ‘given one punishment’ and was even allowed to smoke while she was staying at the Bustamante house. Though she admitted she’s pleased she fell into the lap of lenient parents and feels the show ‘would have probably been cancelled because I’d have just walked out,’ had things been different.

Bryony admitted her Argentinian family didn’t have an impact on her behaviour, and attributed it to ‘just growing up’.

Her relationship with the South American couple and their children is akin to ‘family’ and Bryony even refers to them with familial terms – mum, dad, brothers. 

These days, Bryony is a ‘little bit more chilled’ and knows how to control her anger.

‘I can be angry and sometimes I think “oh my god, I’m back to Bryony from World’s Strictest Parents” but most of the time I’m just chill now’.

She is now a mother-of-two and runs her own business selling children’s clothes – ‘I’ve got quite a happy life now,’ she said.

Though she still hopes to make her dreams of being on TV come true one day, and said she would love the chance to appears on Big Brother or a ‘where are they now’ episode of World’s Strictest Parents’.

Having now been diagnosed with ADHD and Depersonalisation, Bryony said she wished her situation had been understood better and that producers failed to pick up on her symptoms. 

‘I think they should always check with a psychiatrist to make sure you’re mentally stable.’ she said. 

Chezdan Mills: Tearaway teen sent to live with religious American family turned filmmaker 

Since appearing on the show in the US, Chezdan Mills, from Bolton, has transformed his life from a tearaway teen to award-winning filmmaker. 

When he came on the show in 2009, the terrible teen would drink copious amounts of alcohol, skip college and frequently fall into blazing rows with his hapless mother.

He described himself as ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’, joking at the time that, if every potential parent had to meet his younger self, they’d run a mile from having kids at all.

After signing up to appear on the programme, the boozed up teen found himself living under the roof of the Kimbroughs with Pastor David and his extremely religious family, in the United States.

A year after show aired, Chezdan said he had turned over a new leaf and was focusing on improving his grades in school and making it to university.

At the time he told Daily Mail: ‘I was rude, obnoxious, difficult. I treated my mum like a slave. 

‘I’d stay out all night drinking, doing drugs, and if she objected I’d just ignore her or give her a hard time. 

‘School was a nightmare. I had to leave and go to a special school for a while. I was on Prozac. Mum got the brunt of it when I got home. I just didn’t care.’ 

Before signing up to the show, Chezdan has described himself as a ‘lost cause’ and has signed himself up to the BBC programme with the hopes of getting ‘on the telly and have a giggle’.

But reality hit hard for the 17-year-old when he arrived in Atlanta, whining that he was in desperate ‘need of a fag’, only to be confronted by David – a Baptist minister – and his school administrator wife, Wanda Kimbroughs.

The couple ran a tight ship, demanding that their children call them Sir and Ma’am and achieve at least a B grade average in every school subject.

He recalled: ‘We had a meeting about household rules and it went on for hours. There was a contract – pages and pages – which pretty much said we couldn’t breathe without permission. Honestly, we couldn’t so much as roll our eyes without punishment.’ 

The Kimbroughs’ ‘no alcohol, no cigarettes, no drugs and no sex’ proved difficult for Chezdan who was used to a hedonistic lifestyle and dismissing the requests of his own mother.

During a row with Pastor David, Chezdan reached a breakthrough with the family when he revealed elements of his past in an emotional moment – revealing himself that his behaviour was more a symptom of a troubled past than an evil disposition.

A year on from returning, interviews with Chezdan revealed he had turned his back on his wayward past and that his relationship with his mother was ‘better than it has ever been’.

He said in 2010: ‘The only trouble is that it’s actually hard to be a well-behaved teenager in this country. 

‘It’s kind of expected that you’ll be involved in drink and drugs. 

‘People find it odd that I’m talking about religion, or having respect for elders. 

‘They think I’m the nutter now. That’s kind of sad.’

Fifteen years on from when the show aired and Chezdan become a successful filmmaker.

According to his LinkedIn profile, the former tearaway is an ’emerging writer with an interest in comedy, LGBTQ+ and northern voices.’

He has been involved in ‘writing, directing and producing several independent award-winning comedy short films.’ He has even been involved in some BBC productions, year on from when he first worked with the broadcaster.

Shola Scarlett: Recruited from school gates and sent to India, now a travel agent

Shola Scarlett was outside college in North London having an argument with her boyfriend when she was approached by the producers of World’s Strictest Parents.

Uploading a video to her TikTok, Shola, who is now 30, shared her experience on the show. 

She explained: ‘These people from the BBC definitely marketed this experience as a free holiday because I remember just hearing that. Okay, sign me up she said. You’re asking me if I wanted a free holiday?’

During the interaction with producers, Shola and a number of others, had signed up to be part of though show, though it was only her who stayed to chat while the other students who’d signed up, eventually went back to their lessons. 

‘I remember them saying “let us take your mums number so we can verify everything and get this experience onboard because we’re really interested in you”.’

Just 48 hours later, Shola and her mother were sat being filmed in their own home, in preparation for the show. 

Shola was told she needed to wait till her 18th birthday before she’d legally be allowed to take part in the show. 

In the runup to filming, Shola had organised a house party to celebrate turning 18. 

The camera crew had asked to join so that they could capture some shots from the evening, to which Shola agreed.

‘I said of course, I was really starting to feel like a celeb!’ she said. 

‘Even though they ended up filming me kissing one of my best friends, don’t know why they did that, thanks BBC!’

Two days later, she was in Heathrow airport where she discovered that she was going to stay with a family in India. 

Amid teary goodbyes to her mum and even her phone, Shola admitted she felt ‘scared’. 

On the experience with her was Joiee, another unruly teen who she admitted she didn’t see eye to eye with. ‘That’s not to say I didn’t like him, we just weren’t the same’.

Upon hitting down in Delhi in India, Joiee suggested the two buy some alcohol to which Shola eagerly agreed to. ‘And his choice was gin, which I’d never tried before.’

‘Very bad vibes of me, why was I sneaking alcohol into someone’s family home who I’d never met. Looking back that was really bad vibes,’ she confessed in retrospect.

While the Indian family were ‘apprehensive’ at first, Shola said she quickly realised they were ‘lovely’. The pair ‘had a maid and were sent to private school’. 

‘The footage is very organic but what I will say, is that if you’re not acting problematic enough, they will provoke you. 

‘You have to live up to a bad teen and and if you’re not playing up to that enough and not making enough entertaining TV, they will provoke you.’

‘Looking back now I’m matured, the family were so lovely. We send an email back and fourth maybe one a year just asking how we are. 

‘When Covid hit, they emailed to as if I was okay

‘The worst thing about this whole experience was the bad press. 

‘The episode came out about four months after I got home and there was no one who really understood the experience I’d gone through and then the explosive episode happened and I had so much bad press.’

In the pictures taken for the episode cover, Shola said ‘they made us look like right yobos. 

‘That was the most horrible part was being so young and so criticised.’

Twelve years on from when Shola travelled to India to change her ways, the 30-year-old has transformed her life from a rowing red headed tearaway to mother, travel agent and TikTok creator.