CHANNEL 5 show The Great British Benefits Handout Changed My Life has caught up with the familiar that featured on last year’s documentary.

Last year, selected claimants, featured on The Great British Benefits Handout, were given £26,000 to help them get off benefits.

In exchange for the cash, they had to sign off benefits and try to start earning for themselves.

This year’s series finds out if the experiment worked – and the results have been astonishing.

The families featured have had their lives completely transformed by the show – with two families managing to stay of benefits and build successful businesses.

Each family used the cash in a very different way, but all made huge strides.

Scott and Leanne now run a successful party business and are attempting to set up their own zoo in the centre of Liverpool.

Scott and Leanne, from Kirby, Liverpool, have had a very busy year – and there’s no sign of it slowing down anytime soon.

The dad-of-four has found himself to be a natural entrepreneur and is making good money whereas prior to the experiment his family had been living entirely on benefits.

Now, Scott now puts on reptile shows, including educational visits to schools and shows at parties – and has big plans to set up his own interactive zoo in the future.

Leanne is also pregnant again with the couple’s fifth child.

She added: “If this happened this time last year, it would have been more of a worry financially, how we were going to cope.”

Scott said: “It’s nice that we can supply everything we need on our own, without any help.

“It’s a good feeling.”

Talking about his year on from receiving the £26,000, Scott added: “It’s even better than we imagined it would be.

“I’m earning good money and putting it back in to the business and getting more out of the business.

“Hard work pays off.”

Meanwhile, wheeler dealer Tony and his wife Diane have become local celebrities and Tony is gearing up for the biggest car boot sale of the year.

The couple used their money to set-up a second hand goods business and have made a real go of their new trade.

Tony said: “I’m so proud…it’s unreal.

“It’s completely changed our lives, this experiment, because we love working.

“This is the real thing now, we’ve got to keep that going, that’s got to last – because we never ever want to go back on benefits.”

And on social media, their business has attracted a considerable following.

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Tony said: “We’ve got over 14,000 likes on our [Facebook] account already and we didn’t even know we’d create all this interest.”

Diane added: “We’ve had over 100,000 odd people messaging us.”

Tony now has aspirations of becoming even more successful.

He tells Diane: “This time next year we could be millionaires!”

He added: “Work is the most important thing in my life.

“Our ambitions are to own our own farm or country house and go live in the country.”

And single mum Rachael, from Liverpool, has broken free of a lifetime of debt and is about to embark on an exciting new career.

The experiment saw Rachael look for her first job in nearly 20 years.

Over the past two decades she’d supported herself and her three kids entirely on benefits.

After receiving the £26,000 and signing off, she was able to pay off nearly 20 years of debts and then set out to get into employment.

She said: “This experiment has brought me out of myself.”

Now, a year on, Rachael is still working hard to find work, she said: “I’ll just keep on going until I get a job.

“You can get loads of knock-backs but you’ve still got to try and try and try.”

Previously, Rachael struggled with her finances but now she has got them into shape.

“I’ve learnt how to budget, I’ve learnt how to take control of my own finances and I’ve learnt a lot of things.”

She has had to temporarily sign back on – but is determined it not be for long and has also signed up for special educational needs diploma.

The course could be the key to Rachael getting off benefits for good.

She added: “Looking in to the future my ambition is to get a good job, working with the disabled.”

“Now, I’m going in to training, so I’m not just sitting here.”

The Great British Benefits Handout Changed My Life is on Thursday February 9 at 9pm,  Channel 5

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