Sharon Mitchell

Sharon Anne Mitchell (née Watts, previously Rickman) is the adoptive daughter of Den and Angie Watts and is the mother of Dennis Rickman. Sharon is the 4th & current wife of Phil Mitchell and is the stepmother to his daughter Louise and his sons Ben and Raymond.

Storylines
Adopted as a child by Den and Angie Watts, Sharon is raised at The Queen Vic public house in Albert Square, Walford, where her parents are landlord and landlady. A teenage romance with Ian Beale in 1986 ends when Sharon realises she prefers a more experienced man, Simon Wicks, who dumps her when she refuses to have sex. In 1987, she seeks refuge from her turbulent homelife from church curate Duncan Boyd; they get engaged, but Sharon tires of him and ends the relationship. Sharon is torn between her warring parents until their marriage dissolves, and in 1988, Angie emigrates. When Den gets involved in gangland crime, he is shot and presumed dead. Sharon later discovers Den's signet ring on a market stall. With Den's body missing, Sharon persuades the police to drag a canal in April 1990; a body is found and identified as Den's. Sharon rekindles a relationship with Simon, but he cheats on her with Cindy Beale. Hurt and missing her parents, Sharon traces her birth mother, Carol Hanley, who gave her up for adoption when Sharon was three. They meet several times but when Carol confesses she only sees Sharon as a good friend and has no maternal feelings for her, the meetings stop. Sharon remains at The Queen Vic, working as a barmaid for new landlord Eddie Royle. She starts dating Grant Mitchell in 1990. A possessive boyfriend, Grant beats Sharon's boss, Eddie Royle, for making a pass at her. After discovering that Grant's violent behaviour results from a traumatic experience in the Falklands War, she agrees to marry him. Eddie fires Sharon for this and she takes him to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal; she wins, but Eddie refuses to reinstate her. Sharon tells Grant she will only marry him if he buys her The Queen Vic her childhood home. Grant makes this happen, and Sharon becomes The Queen Vic's new licensee and landlady in October 1991. That Boxing Day, Grant springs a surprise wedding on Sharon. Initially unimpressed with his romantic gesture, she marries him following persuasion from her best friend, Michelle Fowler. Michelle tells Sharon that Den would be proud of her becoming the new landlady of The Queen Vic that he loved.

Sharon and Grant's marriage is tempestuous and rows occasionally end in violence. While Grant wants to start a family, Sharon prefers to concentrate on making The Queen Vic a success. When Grant discovers she is taking the contraceptive pill, he smashes up The Queen Vic and disappears; Sharon is comforted by his brother Phil (Steve McFadden). Starting to wonder if she has married the wrong brother, Sharon has sex with Phil in September 1992. Phil is prepared to risk everything to be with her, but she chooses Grant. The marriage deteriorates further when Grant sets fire to The Queen Vic in an insurance scam, nearly killing Sharon and her dog Roly, who are trapped upstairs; Sharon tells Grant their marriage is over. In March 1993, Grant hits Sharon during a power struggle over ownership of The Queen Vic. Michelle calls the police during one of Grant's outbursts and he is imprisoned for assaulting them. While he is in prison, Sharon and Phil reunite and live secretly as a couple. Neither want to tell Grant, and when he is released, Sharon takes him back, leaving Phil dejected. Phil gets engaged to Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth); Sharon realises she still has feelings for him and tries to seduce him. Phil kisses her in a moment of passion he immediately regrets. Sharon convinces herself she is happy with Grant and considers having children with him. Simultaneously, Michelle's boyfriend Geoff Barnes (David Roper) wants to interview Sharon for a book he is writing. Michelle conducts a recorded interview upstairs in The Queen Vic, but when it finishes, the girls forget to turn off the recorder and discuss Sharon's affair with Phil. Grant finds the tape and on the night of Phil and Kathy's engagement party in October 1994, he plays it to a packed Queen Vic and then beats Phil, hospitalizing him. Grant bullies and humiliates Sharon until she agrees to divorce him and leaves to stay with Angie in America leaving Pat Butcher to run The Queen Vic for her.

1995
Sharon returns in March 1995 to hostility from the Mitchells. She is unperturbed and her gutsy behaviour earns her Grant's respect; he realizes he still loves her. Wanting revenge for her mistreatment, she leads Grant on while telling Michelle that she plans to humiliate him publicly. They have sex and Sharon lets Grant think a public marriage proposal will seal their reunion. Grant attempts this on The Queen Vic's quiz night; Sharon is all set to turn him down but suddenly cannot go through with it and stops him from proposing. She confesses that she still loves him, then returns to America alone after heartbreakingly selling The Queen Vic the only thing she had left of Den to Grant's mother Peggy.

2001-2006
In May 2001, Phil and Grant's mother Peggy (Barbara Windsor) sells The Queen Vic to an anonymous buyer who turns out to be former landlady Sharon Watts. Peggy loathes Sharon and regrets selling the pub. Sharon's boyfriend Ross Fletcher (Ché Walker) joins her, claiming he has left his wife, but Sharon discovers he is lying and ends the relationship. With Grant no longer around, Phil and Sharon rekindle their romance and run The Queen Vic together. They survive Peggy's attempts to break them up, but when Sharon reveals she aborted Grant's baby in 1995 and this left her infertile, this is not true Phil reacts badly. Knowing Phil would be uncontent without children of his own, Sharon leaves him. In her absences Peggy becomes acting landlady.

Sharon brings Angie Watts body back from America in 2002 for burial. Angie's death of liver poisoning affects Sharon badly; she rebuffs Phil's attempts to reunite, and instead starts a relationship with her old school friend, Tom Banks (Colm O'Maonlai). The relationship survives Tom's unstable wife Sadie (Isobel Middleton). Sadie is hospitalised after holding Sharon hostage and threatening to kill herself unless Tom takes her back. Sharon sells her share of The Queen Vic to the Phil in September 2002. She and Tom purchase E20 nightclub, renaming it "Angie's Den". When Tom is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour, Sharon stands by him; they plan to marry and travel, but on the night of their engagement party, Tom is killed after running into a burning house to save Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth) and Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns). Sharon goes through a tough period of grief even been comforted by her ex-mother-in-law and arch enemy Peggy Mitchell.

In 2003, Sharon and Vicki, who is Den's daughter (Scarlett Alice Johnson) meet Den's estranged son, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), who then moves to Walford. Dennis has links to the same criminal organisation as his father, and he discovers that Den is still alive, but Sharon refuses to believe this. Dennis falls in love with Sharon. Despite claiming to see Dennis as an adopted brother, she shares his feelings. They have sex in September 2003 but their affair is halted by Den's return.

He survived the shooting in 1989, fleeing to Spain. After years of feeling guilty about disowning Den before his supposed demise, Sharon is thrilled to see him but furious about the unnecessary hurt he caused. Den moves in with Sharon and, when he discovers Sharon and Dennis are romantically involved, he blackmails Dennis into ending the relationship. Dennis begrudgingly dates Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), but as 2004 ends, he secretly reunites with Sharon. The couple plan to move to America on Christmas Day, but then Zoe announces she is pregnant. This is a ruse Den concocts to split-up Sharon and Dennis; Sharon refuses to let Dennis abandon his child and leaves Walford. She returns briefly in February 2005 when summoned by Den's second wife Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman). Chrissie, Zoe, and Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) confront Den about his deceitful deeds, including Zoe's fake pregnancy. Disgusted, Sharon leaves, disowning Den. Chrissie murders Den, bashing him repeatedly with a cast-iron doorstop; aided by Zoe and Sam, Chrissie buries Den's body in the Vic's cellar. Chrissie then forges Den's signature on the deeds of The Queen Vic making her the new owner and landlady.

Dennis reunites with Sharon in America, and in June 2005 they return to confront Den; Chrissie claims he left with another woman. Sharon and Dennis marry on 29 August 2005 but, during their reception, Sam is arrested for digging up Den's body to incriminate Chrissie. Sam is charged with Den's murder and her brothers, Phil and Grant, return to convince Sharon of Chrissie's guilt. Sharon and Grant resolve their past grievances and Sam is released after Johnny Allen (Billy Murray) records Chrissie confessing to Den's murder. Chrissie is caught attempting to flee and Sharon punches her before her arrest. Chrissie later confesses to Sharon that she forged Den's signature on the deeds to The Queen Vic and that on Den's death she should have inherited The Queen Vic. Deciding she does not want to run the pub she sells The Queen Vic to Phil and Peggy Mitchell.

On Christmas Day 2005, Sharon is stunned to discover she is pregnant. Unbeknown to Dennis, Sharon is throttled by Johnny for interfering in his relationship with his daughter Ruby (Louisa Lytton); he threatens to kill Dennis unless they leave Walford by midnight on New Year's Eve. Sharon persuades Dennis to leave after confiding in Phil, but Phil tells Dennis, who responds by beating Johnny. Johnny contacts Danny Moon (Jake Maskall) to kill Dennis; Dennis is stabbed and dies in Sharon's arms. Heartbroken, Sharon refuses to speak, only breaking silence to ask Phil to avenge Dennis's murder. She breaks down at Dennis's funeral; concerned for her unborn child, Phil persuades Sharon to move to America on 13 January 2006. Phil and Grant enact revenge on Johnny, who is imprisoned after confessing to Dennis's murder. On 4 July 2006, Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard) receives news that Sharon has given birth to Dennis Rickman Jr.

Return (2012)
Sharon returns on August 13, 2012. She has a new fiance named John Hewland and a son named Dennis Rickman Jr.. John snatches Dennis so Sharon goes to old flame Phil. They later find John's sister Nina and ask her where Dennis and John are. Nina leads them somewhere but John and Dennis aren't there. Sharon later finds them and Phil punches him.

After Sharon has her son back, Phil takes her back to the Square where she finds some new faces including Max Branning who agreed to let her stay at his place as a favour to Phil and gets out of her wedding dress and swaps it for some of Tanya's clothes and this give Jack Branning the wrong impression when he first meets and mistakes her for an escort so she slaps him and then kicks him.

2017-
In December 2017, Linda Carter talks to Sharon after she flees her and Mick's pub, The Queen Victoria, after she witnesses Mick hugging Whitney Carter, a girl he formerly cheated with her on, after he fiancee jilted her at the railway station before they were due to leave for Spain. Later, when Mick comes knocking, Linda hides in the living room. Mick tells Sharon everything and how much he loves Linda whilst she is listening from next door. He rings her phone, and discovers her in the next room. He presents her with an engraved bracelet, and asks her if they can renew their wedding vows. She says yes, but only if he fixes a spelling error on the bracelet in which he spelt "flamingo" "flamingoe".

Later that month, Phil Mitchell's ex-cellmate Aidan Maguire knocks on Phi's door. They share a drink and catch up. When Sharon walks in, clearly shocked at the scruffy stranger in her house, Phil looks anxious, however Aidan introduces himself as Phil's ex-cellmate. Sharon looks surprised and Phil appears annoyed. Afterwards, Phil asks him why he said that and Aidan says that he saved him from "20 awkward questions".

A week later, after Lauren and Abi Branning fell from the roof of the Queen Victoria, Karen, Sharon, Linda, Shirley and Tina can be seen in the stairwell laughing as Mick walks in. He appears angry, and asks if they heard the sirens. Mick tells them that he better make an announcement. He proclaims that there has been an accident, as the police and Keegan Baker walk in.

First and last lines
"Mum'll like it." (First line)