Gareth "Andy Flynn" Jones made his first appearance on 17 March 2016. He is portrayed by Jack Derges.
Backstory[]
When Danielle died, Andy was on tour with the army in Egypt. Andy was kicked out of the army, his relationship ended, lost his house and then his dad had a stroke. he blamed it all on Ronnie Mitchell and seeked her out.
Storylines[]
Andy is friend of Linford Short who helps him with construction work on his foster brother Vincent Hubbard's basement. Vincent's wife Kim Fox-Hubbard flirts with him in a jokey way.
Andy and Linford later park a digger in the Square during their renovation work, and when a drunk Phil Mitchell gets into it, Andy tries to stop him but Phil destroys the car lot with it. Andy then helps rescue Phil's daughter Louise Mitchell from the wreckage and, with the help of Linford and another man, drags Phil from the digger. Jack Branning later hires Andy as a builder to help him convert a house he has bought into flats and he and Linford look over the property for him. Andy also saves Hannah Reynolds from being hit by a car whilst she is holding Ronnie Mitchell's son Matthew Mitchell-Cotton in her arms. The following week, Jack draws up a contract for Andy and Linford and invites them to a karaoke night at the Queen Victoria Pub. However, Andy does not arrive and Jack tells Ronnie he is dogsitting. When Martin Fowler asks Andy how much the flats will sell for, Andy says he would not be able to afford them. Jack tells Andy that Martin and his fiancé Stacey Branning are having money problems, so Andy helps Martin find work away from Walford. The next day, Andy invites himself into Stacey's home; her half-brother Kyle Slater wonders about his intentions, though Stacey seems not to mind.
Stacey soon realises that Andy is homeless when she sees him heading into the flats late at night. When Andy wolf-whistles at Stacey, Kyle is upset and later confronts Andy, saying it is the kind of behaviour that leads to rape. Kyle threatens violence against Andy, shaking the ladder he is on, but Stacey stops him. Later, in the pub, Andy and Jack call Kyle a feminist, so Kyle assumes Stacey has told them that he is transgender and angrily leaves. Andy realises that Kyle is transgender and tells Stacey he has no problem with it, and Stacey reveals she knows Andy is homeless, offering him the use of her shower. Martin sees Andy wearing only a towel in the flat when he speaks to Stacey on video chat, and when he returns, he tells Andy to shower elsewhere, but Andy says he knows that Martin was fired from his job and is lying to Stacey. Andy tells Stacey this, saying he assumed Martin would have told her. He babysits for Ronnie when her mother Glenda Mitchell arrives. Andy listens in on Glenda's telephone conversation with her son Danny Mitchell, and later reveals this conversation to Ronnie. Martin later asks Andy if he can do more building work, but Andy says he is not qualified, but says that Jack has had 40 toilets delivered in error and they can sell them on and split the profits. With the help of Kyle and Stacey, they are able to steal the toilets. However, they struggle to sell them and hear the police are investigating. Later, Andy looks at newspaper articles he has collected about Ronnie. Andy manages to get the keys to Ronnie's house where he looks on Ronnie's laptop; when she quizzes him about it he explains he is looking at care homes for his father.
When Stacey's cousin Belinda Peacock inadvertently tries to sell the stolen toilets back to Jack, Martin, Stacey, Kyle and Belinda return them to the flats, breaking in as they do so. Jack then installs CCTV, meaning Andy can no longer squat there. Stacey allows him to stay in their flat for a few days. Andy finds Kyle looking at his file of newspaper articles, including a photo of Andy and Ronnie's dead daughter, Danielle Jones, together. When Kyle asks who she is, Andy says she is his sister. Andy flirts with Roxy when he first meets her, and he asked her on a date but she punches him when he goes to kiss her; she admits to feeling imprisoned by her former boyfriend Dean Wicks's attempted rape, so he tells her she is free of him as he is in prison, and they kiss. Ronnie encourages Roxy to date Andy and she agrees. As she texts Andy, he is with his father, Andy Jones, also Danielle's adoptive father, and tells him he is getting closer to Ronnie.
Due to overcrowding at Stacey's flat, Andy decides to squat in Jack's new flats but Jack and Ronnie catch him using the shower. They let him move in with them, but after Ronnie sends Andy's things to the launderette, Dot Branning calls her having found a news cutting about Danielle in Andy's pocket. Ronnie realises it is Andy's so confronts him, but he claims he wanted to find out the truth about Ronnie after hearing gossip and felt a connection as his mother and sister also died; Ronnie asks Andy to move back out but he unplugs the phone and turns sinister, only to be interrupted by Jay Brown saying that Roxy's daughter Amy Mitchell is missing. Andy finds her, and apologises to Ronnie, saying he just wanted time to explain, and she allows him to stay. After finding a train ticket intending for Telford, which is where Danielle was from, Ronnie realises who Andy is. She confronts him about his true identity and he angrily accuses Ronnie of causing Danielle's death. She explains that she was unaware of Danielle's true identity until shortly before her death. Jack, who has been told Andy's true identity, finds them both and punches Andy. Roxy confronts Andy as she believes he had used her to get to Ronnie. Although he explains that he was genuinely interested in Roxy, she coldly tells him to leave only for Ronnie to go after him as she believes he is still struggling to grieve for Danielle's death. Ronnie and Andy have a heart-to-heart about Danielle, only for Andy to make a move on Ronnie. However, Andy later says he doesn't see Ronnie in that way and starts crying over Danielle. Ronnie tells him to stop blaming himself as he has been doing. Andy suggests that he and Ronnie start making up for their lost years but Ronnie tells Andy to leave, saying he needs to move on. Before he goes, Ronnie assures Andy she is always there for him and gives him her locket that Danielle had. Andy then bumps into Stacey, who asks him why he never told her about Danielle. Andy says it was because he was afraid that she would tell Ronnie. He thanks Stacey for being a good friend to him and Danielle, adding that Martin is a lucky man, before leaving the Square. This is Andy's last appearance.