Lewis Butler was the Bar Manager at The Prince Albert. He made his first appearance on 11 April 2022. He is portrayed by Aidan O’Callaghan.
Storylines[]
2022: Arrival and sexual assault on Ben[]
Lewis is hired by Kathy Beale to replace Mila Marwa at The Prince Albert. He quickly becomes friends with Callum Highway and Ben Mitchell, where he mentions he’s been out and proud since thirteen.
Lewis restrains Ben from attacking a homophobic man.
Lewis is subject to homophobic abuse, but brushes it off with confidence and sass. In May 2022, he stops Ben from attacking a homophobe, Rich and takes him for a drink at The Prince Albert, where the duo discuss why Howie Danes is there, Lewis suggests it’s a hook up, but after Kim Fox arrives with the date she organised for him without telling him, Lewis realises he is straight. Ben later leaves and attacks who be believes is rich, only to find it is Peter Beale.
After Callum discovers Ben attacked Peter, he and Ben argue, Ben storms off to Ruby's, Lewis bumps into Ben and the two share a drink, Ben reveals to Lewis that he attacked Peter and other homophobic men, Lewis then leans in to kiss Ben, Ben kisses Lewis back briefly but backs away seconds later. Both Ben and Lewis were unaware that Callum had seen them kiss.
Lewis rapes Ben.
Ben admits to Callum the next day that he and Lewis kissed and despite being angry with Ben the two agree to move past it, until Callum finds out that Ben had told Lewis about attacking Peter, Ben and Callum argue again. Ben texts Lewis on the Crusadr dating app and the two meet at the Prince Albert after close, Ben and Lewis are about to sleep together until Ben receives a text from Callum. Ben then decides not to go through with sleeping with Lewis and attempts to leave, however Lewis pins Ben down and despite Ben saying no Lewis rapes Ben.
Phil Mitchell prepares to shoot Lewis.
Lewis with a gun.
The next day Ben confronts Lewis, accusing Lewis of rape, which Lewis vehemently denies. Callum confronts Ben and asks him if he slept with Lewis on the night of the rape, Ben does not answer Callum and Callum assumes that he did, Callum then punches Lewis. Callum and Lewis get close after Lewis apologises for 'sleeping' with Ben, Callum agrees to help Lewis with a police report after Lewis was beaten up in a homophobic attack, Ben sees Lewis and Callum together and becomes paranoid, Ben eventually tells Kathy and Jay Brown that Lewis raped him, Kathy then fires Lewis and tells him to leave Walford. Lewis leaves Walford but gets revenge on Ben and Kathy by stealing money from the Prince Albert until and tells Peter that Ben attacked him.
Ben forces Lewis to admit to raping him.
Lewis briefly returns on 16 August 2022, when the Mitchell family kidnap him, tieing him up and putting him in the boot of their car, after Ben told them about the rape, Lewis manages to escape from the boot and steals Phil Mitchell's gun. Lewis then holds Phil and Sam at gunpoint but Phil manages to tackle Lewis to the ground disarming Lewis, Phil then beats him to a pulp and prepares to shoot Lewis but is interrupted by Ben who says if anyone is going to shoot Lewis it will be him. Ben then points the gun at Lewis and forces him to admit he raped him, to which Lewis confesses during the conversation Lewis implies that he has raped more people than just Ben. Ben eventually decides to let Lewis go but decides to report Lewis raping him to the police. However Lewis did not face justice for raping Ben after police decided to drop the charges. Although Lewis was arrested on 24 April 2023 for raping another man and was charged by police.
Victim Count[]
Rape Victims[]
- Ben Mitchell (23 May 2022) - Raped Ben during closing up at The Prince Albert after he refused to listen to Ben's plea of saying no.
- Unknown person (sometime between 17 August 2022 to 24 April 2023) - Raped another man after leaving Walford. The unnamed person reported Lewis to the police and he was arrested.
Note: on 17 August 2022 it was implied in dialogue between Lewis and Ben that Ben was not Lewis' first rape victim.
List of appearances[]
2022[]
Quotes[]
- To Kathy Beale, Ben Mitchell and Callum Highway (interrupting their conversation, first line): "What kind of photos are we talkin' about?". (11 April 2022)
- To a group of people (making homophobic comments towards him): "Oh don't worry, you can't catch gay sweetheart. Even though secretly I know you wanna catch this one." (12 April 2022)
- To Ben ('last line): "Educated guess, i didn't break you and Callum up you did. There's something in you, something dark, you don't belong together because he's good and you, you're bad, just like me." (17 August 2022)
Background information[]
- In August 2022 Lewis' actor Aidan O’Callaghan confirmed he'd filmed his final scene but didn't rule out a return to EastEnders in the future saying he'd love to do scenes in court for a rape trial insisting he's "waiting for the phone to ring".