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Bailey Baker is the daughter of Mitch Baker and Dinah Wilson, as well as the half-sister of Chantelle and Keegan. She is also the aunt to Mia and Mackenzie. She made her first appearance on 10 January 2019 and final appearance on 8 December 2023. Bailey is portrayed by Kara-Leah Fernandes.

Backstory[]

Bailey is the daughter of Mitch Baker and Dinah Wilson. Before Mitch’s relationship with Dinah, he was in a relationship with Karen Taylor. The pair already had a daughter together, Chantelle but they soon split up and Karen went on to have two other children, Keanu and Bernadette, not fathered by Mitch. The pair decided to rekindle their romance a few years later and soon Karen became pregnant their son Keegan. Once Karen and Mitch split up once again, Karen met another man and together they had two sons, Riley and Chatham, with Mitch going on to have a daughter, Bailey with Dinah.

Since Dinah became sick, Bailey had been her primary caregiver and often looked after her mother when she was sick. After Dinah’s death, Bailey went to live with Mitch, Karen and the rest of the Taylor family.

Storylines[]

2019-2020: Arrival, mourning her mother and the death of Chantelle[]

Bailey is brought to Albert Square by Mitch when he is fixing ex-girlfriend Karen Taylor's bathroom. Mitch leaves her in his van, until a drug addict named Craig breaks in, seeing an opportunity to steal. Bailey hits him in self-defence. Mitch sees the altercation and hurriedly gets rid of Craig and leaves Bailey to play with a football outside The Queen Victoria pub. She breaks one of the Queen Victoria's windows, prompting an angry reaction from Mick Carter. Mitch apologises to Mick and tells him that Bailey is his friend's daughter. (Mitch does not want to cause any drama to the family due to hiding the fact he had another child). After a chat with Karen, Mick visits Bailey's football club and apologises. Mitch and Mick get chatting and end up agreeing to help football coach Caden with the team.

In his travels through the Square, Mitch thought he spotted his son Keegan giving a kiss to his 'new girlfriend' — but in reality, had no clue it was sadistic drug dealer Evie Steele forcing Keegan to kiss her as part of a drug deal. Back at the house, later on, Mitch and Karen were both enjoying Bailey's adorable card tricks, when an irritable Keegan stormed back in. Mitch teased his son about his new girlfriend, but a horrified Keegan snapped back that Evie was "just a mate" to cover his tracks. Mitch then ended up in the hot seat by accidentally revealing the truth about his and Bailey's bond. Mitch wanted to take Bailey home, but Bailey refused and asked why she had to go home. Mitch angrily snapped at her, saying "Because I'm your daddy and I said so, that's why". Karen and Keegan both looked at Mitch in shock. Keegan soon warmed up to his little sister and Bailey grew close to Karen and the rest of the family.

Bailey was the primary carer of her mother Dinah Wilson as she had Multiple Sclerosis which caused her to deteriorate rapidly. After Dinah had enough of seeing her daughter see her endure endless pain, she decided to take her life assisted by Karen. Dinah left Bailey a birthday card as it soon approaching.

When Dinah commits suicide, Bailey moves in with Karen and her children. Bailey overhears a conversation between Karen and Mitch, where she discovers that Karen knew Dinah was going to kill herself. Bailey and Mitch were seemingly unable to forgive such an act. Bailey holds a grudge against Karen for a number of weeks, until realising Karen done it in Dinah's best interest. Karen then buys her a star in honour of her mother.

When the COVID-19 lockdown occurs, Bailey goes to live with an aunt. When her half-sister, Chantelle dies, due to being murdered by her husband, Gray Atkins after years of domestic abuse, Mitch and Karen are devastated, but didn’t know Gray was responsible as he had staged the scene to look like an accident. Mitch leaves the Square to tell Bailey about Chantelle's death.

2021-2023: Running away and exit[]

Bailey was left anxious about the family's money troubles in recent days, especially after overhearing a troubling conversation between Mitch and Karen. The clan had hit hard times after Karen lost her job at the launderette and Mitch struggled to find any work to support them instead. To make matters worse, Mitch and Karen have been left devastated at the prospect of letting Bailey down over her triumph in the school science competition, which has earned her a place on a prestigious but pricey science camp. Aware of the problems her family are facing, a kind-hearted and understanding Bailey tried to make things better by claiming that the camp was paid for and she didn't need Mitch to attend with her. Knowing her dad couldn't afford the train ticket, Bailey claimed she was going to travel alone. However, it's now clear that Bailey wasn't telling the full truth about the plans – and was secretly plotting to run away. After leaving her family a note, Bailey was seen heading out of the house with her beloved dog, Banjo.

Mitch was left horrified when he realised that Bailey had vanished from their home, sparking a massive search for her. Karen and Mitch left frustrated when the police want to search their house again for information.

This leaves Mitch fearing that they are trying to blame his daughter's disappearance on him. Furious, Mitch will initially refuse to go to the police station for questioning, but does eventually agree – with the support of his son Keegan. Mitch is left further broken following a conversation with Bailey's school friend, Amy Mitchell, which confirms that Bailey was worried about the family's money issues.

As Mitch begins to blame himself, the police investigation ramps up, with Jack Branning suggesting a TV appeal. As things get more serious, Karen finds herself pinning the blame on her former boss Apostolos, given that Bailey only ran away because of their mounting debts. Apostolos had been forced to let Karen go from the launderette earlier in the month, but did try to offer her a redundancy payout initially. Convinced all their problems began with Apostolos, Karen heads into the Square in a rage, smashing up the Laundrette. Denise Fox and Sheree Trueman set up a fundraising appeal to find Bailey, leaving Jack hopeful that the public will get behind them. Denise and Sheree will also set up a fundraising appeal to find Bailey.

Later on, Keegan finds an injured Banjo, but the Taylors are thrown into fresh panic when they realise that Bailey is nowhere nearby. At that moment in time, the youngster is desperately searching for her pet but is then approached by a man named Reg, who claims to have once known her mum. Reg tries to keep her talking so that he can phone Mitch, but Bailey runs off.

Bailey has been right under their noses after setting up a camp in Arthur Fowler's allotment. Amy has known about Bailey's whereabouts and stole some sweets from the market so she had something to keep her going. However Denise picked up on Amy's weird behaviour after the schoolgirl told her she wouldn't be home for dinner because she'd started chess club.

Amy and Bailey had agreed that Amy would steal some money out of dad Jack's wallet so Bailey could pay for a train ticket to go and stay at her mum's friend's house in Liverpool. As Amy opened the shed door to go home, an unimpressed Denise was standing outside waiting for her. Bailey was reunited with her family and she promised that she'd never do anything like that ever again.

Bailey makes a plan when she spots Karen and Mitch arguing over their sleeping situation. She tries to get them back together. Mitch warns Bailey that she can’t force him and Karen to fall in love. They both get the wrong idea after eavesdropping in Karen's conservation as she praises the delivery man she has been flirting with. Ever after this is revealed, Bailey still hatches another plan to get Mitch and Karen together. In the cab office, Mitch is oblivious to a woman flirting with him, so Keegan and Bailey play Cupid, arranging for them to meet up later at the club. Bailey tries one last time to matchmake for Mitch and Karen just before realising it's never going to happen. When Mitch tries to find somewhere new to stay, Bailey pleads with Keegan to intervene. In November 2021 Bailey campaigns for Walford East to go vegan on mondays in order to help the environment, however the owner Peter Beale refuses and after Bailey makes a video on the matter that goes viral, Peter agrees to vegan mondays.

In July 2022, Bailey's uncle, Avery comes to Walford. He later dies from terminal cancer. In March 2023, Bailey and her sister figure, Bernadette protest for 'No Plane Pledge'. On 14 August 2023 that same year, Bernadette mentions that Bailey hates Tommy Moon's friend, Perry Griffin and describes him as 'the most popular boy in school'. On 17 August 2023, Bailey attends Bernadette’s birthday party at The Prince Albert. In November, Bailey asks to stay at her friend Samira’s house so they can finish a science project. Mitch and Karen give her permission.

Phil Mitchell gets suspicious when he sees Karen spending money in the Vic, when Karen gives Kat Mitchell £2,000 to pay for damage to a car that Mitch accidentally crashed into. Phil checks the money and notices it is his marked notes that he gave to Sharon Watts to pay off Albie Watts' kidnapper, Phil is convinced that the Taylor's kidnapped Albie and he asks Sam Mitchell to find proof, Sam later finds a picture on Karen's brother-in-law's social media with Albie from the day after he was kidnapped. Phil gains further proof when he sends Tommy around to Karen's and he finds Phil's money under her bed, before Tommy can take the money back he is interrupted by Felix, Tommy takes a couple of the notes and gives them to Phil. Phil then goes to the Vic and confronts all the Taylor's and reveals the true circumstances behind Albie's kidnap infront of Sharon. Karen admits to being behind the kidnap and takes the blame for it to protect Keanu, Sharon slaps Karen and threatens to call the police on her. However, Keanu begs her not to insisting that despite what she's done she's still his mother, Phil angrily confonts Keanu and demands to know if he was involved in the kidnap and Keanu swears that he wasn't. Phil then storms over to the Taylor's and smashes their door down, Phil demands his money back from Karen. Karen grabs a baseball bat and they tell Phil that their kids are here. Phil then tells them kids or no kids he will be coming back for his money, Keanu goes to the Taylors t say sorry but they are all disgusted that Keanu let Karen to take the blame, Karen later tells Mitch she's going to take Phil's money and leave Walford, Karen asks Mitch to leave with her. Mitch is initially hesitant to go but after Tom Cotton and Harvey Monroe make Mitch realise that he still loves Karen, Mitch goes back to the house and kisses Karen. Karen, Mitch, Bailey, Mackenzie and Mia all leave Walford, however Bernadette decides to stay and tells Keanu that he is dead to her.

Quotes[]

First line: “Go Away! Shoo!” (Said to Craig on 10 January 2019)


Last Line: “Me!” (Said to Karen before leaving for Spain on 8 December 2023)

Employment history[]

Occupation Years Active
Student at St Mary's Primary School Prior to 2019-2019
Student at Walford Primary School 2019-2020
Student at Walford High School 2020-2023

Residence history[]

Address Years
Kempner House Prior to 2019-2019
23A Albert Square 2019
23B Albert Square 2019-2023
Spain 2023

See also[]

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