She trained at the Italia Conti Academy. Her television debut was in the children's series Going Out before in March 1982 joining the cast of Coronation Street as the Faircloughs foster daughter Sharon Gaskell. During her time in the Street, Tracie turned twenty-one and passed her driving test, even though the examiner was a fan, he gave her an extra hard test to ensure fair play. In 1984 Tracie left the series and went on to play television roles in Black Silk, Unnatural Causes, The Rector of Stiffkey, Knock Knock, Relative Strangers, Boon, The Refuge, The Ritz, The Bretts, Alas Smith & Jones and Brush Stokes, although returned for another stint in the Street in 1999.