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Christine "Chrissie" Watts is the widow of Den Watts whom she later murdered her self therefore once being stepmother of Sharon Watts, Dennis Rickman and Vicki Fowler.

Storylines[]

2004-2005: Arrival[]

Chrissie arrives in Walford in search of her husband, Den Watts. Their marriage has turned sour and he has sold their bar in Spain and taken the money. Den manages to persuade her to give their marriage another try, and to stay in Walford with him. She is shocked to discover he has children, Sharon Watts, Dennis Rickman and Vicki Fowler, and that while he was in Spain with her, he was in exile after faking his own death. She starts work as a hairdresser in Kate Mitchell's nail salon and helps stepdaughter Vicki with her plans to enter fashion school. However, Den's elusive behaviour raises her suspicions that he is having an affair. He almost convinces her that she is mistaken, but she eventually learns that her fears were correct and uncovers the affair between Den and Kate. Feigning friendship, she hacks off most of Kate's hair and smashes up the beauty salon in a rage. She leaves Walford distraught at Den's betrayal.

Den departs for Spain on business, and Chrissie returns to the salon as she remains the co-owner. She remains hostile to Kate for some time, but eventually calls a truce. She then becomes concerned over Vicki's much older boyfriend Tommy Grant, and exposes him as a liar. At this point, Den returns intent on securing her forgiveness. However, she does not succumb to his charm offensive, and so as a demonstration of his affection he confides in her of his plans to bankrupt the Mitchell family and take control of The Queen Victoria public house, declaring that he can't do it without her. She relents, but warns if he ever cheats again she will kill him. Together, they scam the Mitchell family out of their holdings and move into the Vic on Christmas Day, 2004.

2005-2006: The murder of Den Watts[]

In January, Dennis catches Den and his girlfriend Zoe Slater in bed together and tells Chrissie who is stunned. Zoe discovers she is pregnant by Den. Chrissie persuades her to abort the baby, and later reveals that she knows it was Den's baby. Chrissie, Zoe and Sam Hunter plan revenge on Den; Chrissie for his lies and adultery, Zoe for forcing her to fake a pregnancy and then sleep with him, and Sam for losing her pub to Den in a corrupt scheme that both he and Chrissie were involved in. Chrissie plans to intimidate Den into signing the pub over to her. They confront Den but he takes it in his stride and openly talks about his sins, unaware that Sharon is hiding at the other side of the pub, listening to her father's confessions. Sharon berates Chrissie for tricking her into coming back to Walford with the lie that her father is ill. She storms out of the pub and Den follows. Chrissie knows that Sharon is the one person Den truly loves and cares about and knows that losing Den the love of his favourite child will destroy him. Den walks back in and she taunts him that he now knows what it is like to lose what he loves most. Unable to contain his rage, Den attacks his wife and hits her head against a fruit machine. Zoe picks up the nearest object and hits Den over the head with it and he falls to the ground. Perceiving him to be dead, Zoe and Sam go out the back to turn all the lights off and lock all the doors. A smug Chrissie starts to gloat that Den is dead, as if to say she has won. Den suddenly grabs her leg and hisses, "You'll never get me out of The Vic." so Chrissie picks up the doorstop and delivers a fatal blow to his head, secretly watched by Sam. The three women bury him in a hole in the pub's cellar, which is filled with cement the next morning.

Despite knowing that she is innocent, Chrissie allows Zoe to believe that she has killed Den. Consequently, a power struggle breaks out between Sam - who wants her pub back in return for her silence - and Chrissie, with each woman trying to gain control of Zoe. In the meantime, Chrissie publicly accounts for Den's sudden absence by declaring that he has run off with another woman and attempts to make her story convincing by throwing his clothes into the street and engaging in a bogus phone conversation with him in front of a packed pub. She successfully removes Zoe from the Square for a time, and begins a relationship with Jake Moon; however, Sam has taken the doorstop and hidden it in her flat. She then proceeds to blackmail Chrissie by saying that unless the pub is given back to her, she will inform the police. Chrissie stalls for time, and eventually calls Sam's bluff, declaring that she will take Sam down with her if she goes to the police. Desperate, Sam tries to corner Chrissie by telling Zoe the truth. Zoe confronts Chrissie before fleeing to Spain, telling her mother Kat Slater, what has happened before she goes.

Dennis and Sharon return to Walford in search of their father. On their wedding day, a drunken Sam grows frustrated and smashes up Den's grave and digs up his body in the hope that Chrissie will be sent down for his death. This backfires and Sam is arrested on suspicion of murder as Den's bloodstains are found under her sink and her story constantly changes. Chrissie asks Kat to get her cousin, Stacey Slater, to give a false alibi that Zoe and Chrissie were with her on the night Den died, and Kat agrees as it means that Zoe is safe from the police. Sam's mother, Peggy Mitchell, returns to Walford to free Sam, and slaps Chrissie during Den's funeral. The slap causes Chrissie to fall into Den's grave on top of the coffin.

Chrissie plans to sell the pub to Johnny Allen and a mystery second buyer, and flee the country, although Phil and Grant Mitchell try to taunt her. Chrissie though, is unfazed, as Sharon still supports her - however, Grant finally convinces Sharon to visit Sam in prison. Sharon still believes Chrissie is innocent, but finally learns the truth when Chrissie makes an innocuous, but telling, comment. Realising that Sharon knows, Chrissie becomes distraught as she felt that so long as Sharon, Den's daughter, thought well of her, she could think well of herself. Panicking, she begins to make mistakes, arguing with Jake outside of Johnny's club. Chrissie had confessed her role in Den's death to Jake, and lets information regarding her guilt slip as they argue. This is caught on CCTV by Johnny, who delights in telling Jake that he has a recording. Chrissie asks to get the money for The Queen Victoria right away, and Johnny takes advantage, saying the only way she will get the money is if she sleeps with him. Chrissie resists, saying that she will not hurt Jake. Johnny tells her that she will not receive the money, and tells Phil and Grant about the tape.

Chrissie discovers that Ian Beale is the mystery buyer of the pub, and she and Jake make a quick sale to Ian before fleeing the Square. At the airport, they see Sharon, Phil and Grant with the police. Sharon confronts and then punches Chrissie, who is then arrested for Den's murder. Chrissie says that she will only co-operate in exchange for a meeting with Sharon. This is earned, and she tries to make Sharon realise why she killed her father, to no avail. She reveals that she forged Den's signature on the document in which Den handed over the pub to Chrissie, thus the pub legally belongs to Sharon. Jake visits Chrissie in jail and asks her to marry him. She finds out that he has lost the £25,000 that was to be her bail money, and storms out of the visiting room, calling Jake an idiot. She begins plotting revenge on Sharon for sending her to prison by trying to force her to testify in court about what Den was really like, wanting to see Sharon crumble at confessing how he cheated and supposedly and allegedly beat her mother. After a week in prison, she gives up and dismisses her solicitor, and decides to plead guilty to murder. After an emotional farewell to Jake, she walks into her cell with a contented smile.

Though Chrissie has not been seen or heard of since, when Sam returns to Walford in September 2009, she is arrested for her role in Den's murder and expresses a fear of running into Chrissie in prison, although this doesn't happen.

Employment history[]

Occupation Years Active
Employee at Angie's Den 2004
Co-owner and co-licensee of The Queen Victoria 2004 to 2005

Residence[]

Address Years
5 Albert Square 2004
The Queen Victoria 2004 to 2005

Kill count[]

Murders/manslaughter victims[]

  1. Den Watts (18 February 2005) – Struck him with a doorstop.

See also[]

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