Danni Brooke - Living an undercover double life

Former Metropolitan Police Officer, Danni Brooke AKA Undercover Mother is highly regarded as an investigation and intelligence expert across The Globe. Having worked on some of the most dangerous and high-profile cases, Danni has seen herself face to face with crimes involving guns, drugs and prostitution rings.

'My life was full of danger every day and I couldn’t tell my friends or family what I did for a living. My mum didn’t even know! There were definitely times I was in too deep but somehow I always got away with it.

I was living a double life and it felt normal.'

For over a decade Danni Brooke was one of the most effective female undercover cops in the UK, one of a very small number of women in the Met’s elite unit. She was so successful at taking down criminals she was seconded to forces around the country.

Whether she was infiltrating organised crime gangs or disrupting drug supply lines, Danni played the innocent Essex girl, fooling even the most suspicious villains, using her quick wits to keep her out of trouble. She loved the job but the pressures of her work, and trying to balance the long hours with being a mother, were to take a toll on her personal life.

In her honest, warm and gripping memoir, Danni also reveals why she left the police, how she found a new career (and love) on C4’s Hunted – and why the thrill of covert work still pulls her into private investigations.

Today Danni Brooke enjoys the quiet life with her two children at her home in Spain, where she also runs a cybersecurity company with partner and fellow TV hunter Ben Owen. She likes experimenting with Italian recipes, baking and watching true crime documentaries on Netflix. It is a world away from the high-risk life she lived for ten years as a covert police officer. Then she spent her days on the streets and her nights in dingy clubs and crack dens, helping to gather evidence to put hundreds of dangerous criminals behind bars. 

Since leaving the force in 2013 she has built up a successful career as an investigator on C4’s Hunted, now in its 10th series. She has also participated in the ‘Celebrity Hunted’ programmes, appeared on ITV’s This Morning, taken part in the C5 series Troll Hunters and is due to star in a new C4 gameshow hosted by Ellie Taylor launching this Spring. Danni has also filmed a pilot with a Hollywood production company. 

As one of the only female undercover cops operating at a senior level Danni has a unique insight into the workings of this specialist unit. And though her extraordinary bravery and quick-thinking earned her commendations, today she takes a more critical view of her police work.

‘My view on drugs has completely changed over the years,’ she says. ‘Though I’m proud of what I did, taking out some really nasty characters, I can see that drugs problem isn’t going to be solved unless there is some serious thinking at a governmental level.

Socials:

LinkedIn: Danni Brooke

Insta: DGB @dannigbrooke

Twitter @DanniGBrooke

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube