Sheanu

"Sheanu" was a storyline which started in 2018 and ended on the show's 35th anniversary on 21 February 2020. It involved Sharon Mitchell's affair with Keanu Taylor and her husband Phil Mitchell finding out about it, and the subsequent events that transpired as a result of the affair are still happening to this day.

Main characters[]

Side characters[]

Plot[]

The Gang[]

Phil Mitchell hires Keanu Taylor as his mechanic at The Arches, Phil fires him after they have a disagreement, however he hires him back when Keanu and Sharon plant dodgy cars on Phil's rival Max Branning's garage, leaving Phil impressed. Sharon and Keanu continue to grow close throughout 2018, however nothing would happen yet. Keanu sees Sharon's son Dennis Rickman Jr being given a bag full of phones by a gang and Keanu then confiscates the bag from Dennis. The gang then track Keanu down to the Arches and confront him demanding the bag back. Keanu refuses to hand the bag over and Phil then turns up and orders the gang to leave. The gang would trash the Arches and steal everything in there after Phil and Keanu had left. The gang later come back and boast about stealing the stuff to Keanu unaware he has recorded the conversation, Keanu then tells them to leave, which the gang considers doing until they see Dennis spying on them. They then chase Dennis and attack him. Keanu tries to protect Dennis but ends up getting attacked himself. Phil then spots the gang attacking Keanu and Dennis and attacks several members of the gang leading them to flee. Phil then drags Dennis and Keanu back to his house and him and Sharon are furious at Keanu for not telling them that he had seen Dennis with the gang. Phil then orders Keanu to get out of his house. Sharon later meets Keanu and apologises for blaming him and Keanu says Dennis is lucky to have Phil as a father figure, however Sharon disagrees.

The affair[]

Phil punches Keanu — Phil punches and fires Keanu.

Phil takes Dennis to the Arches for the day, Phil leaves Dennis on his own saying he has to go to a business meeting and assures him he wont be long, while Phil is gone, the gang turn up and attempt to kidnap Dennis but are stopped by Sharon and Keanu, Sharon takes Dennis home but goes back to the Arches to meet Keanu and thanks him for helping save Dennis. She then gets upset and claims to be a bad mother but Keanu shuts it down immediately and tells her it isn't her fault, the two then share an intimate moment when Keanu holds her hand and kisses her on the cheek.

Phil then discovers the gang had attacked Dennis again after Keanu's mother Karen Taylor told Phil that Keanu had given her one of Dennis' jackets to be cleaned, Phil then realises something has happened, he tells Keanu to come to his house, he then confronts Sharon and Keanu who confess Dennis was attacked again, Phil is furious believing Keanu has been keeping secrets from him again. Phil then punches Keanu and fires him, Keanu later returns to the house and attempts to kiss Sharon, Phil then walks in just before they are about to kiss, Keanu begs Phil for his job back but Phil refuses, Sharon then finds a flight ticket to Spain and believes Phil is planning to take them away on holiday, Sharon and Phil had not been getting along for months after Phil discovered Sharon had stolen money from him that he had got from a robbery with Aidan Maguire. Sharon is excited and thinks this is Phil's way of a fresh start, however Phil tells her he is going on his own for two months on business, leaving Sharon devastated, she then texts Keanu and he goes over to Phil's house, Sharon and Keanu kiss and sleep together, Phil leaves for Spain the same night.

Keanu and Sharon have many more sexual encounters, including in the Arches, where during their romp, Sharon accidentally sends a voicemail to Louise Mitchell, Louise then begins blackmailing them, threatening to tell her father, Phil what is going on but Sharon tells her what she heard was Keanu giving her personal training and she swears on Dennis' life that she is not having an affair with Keanu. Sharon ends her relationship with Keanu after Karen catches them in the ally way next to The Queen Victoria, she confronts Sharon and begs her to end her relationship with Keanu, telling her that if Phil finds out he will kill Keanu if he found out about the affair, Sharon agrees and dumps Keanu, telling him,"I've thought about the consequences and you would never survive Phil Mitchell".

Keanu and Sharon avoid each other for weeks until Sharon begs Keanu for another chance, Sharon and Keanu sleep together once again, Louise and Keanu's brother Keegan Baker are also making out in the kitchen, Sharon handcuffs Keanu to the bed but then, Phil returns, Phil comes into the house and catches Louise and Keegan, he runs after Keegan but fails to catch him, Keanu hides under the bed as Phil meets Sharon down stairs, Phil and Sharon then sleep together, Keanu then hears them leaving him traumatised. Phil then sees Keanu at the Vic and warns him to keep his brother away from Louise, he then gives Keanu his job back.

Keanu then has a one night with Louise when Sharon goes to Australia and ignores him, Phil tells Keanu to start seeing Louise, Keanu agrees but is reluctant, Keanu dumps Louise after realising he still loves Sharon, Phil is furious after learning about this and threatens Keanu. Phil sends Keanu to Spain Keanu intends to tell Phil no, but is devastated when he finds out from Phil that a returning Sharon came up with the idea, he then tells Sharon that the holiday is a charade and that he will be doing criminal activities for Phil and that he will be lucky to make it back in one peace, he then tells Sharon it is over between them for good.

Keanu returns and double pregnancy[]

Episode 5934 (10 June 2019) — Keanu and Louise.

Keanu returns weeks later, while he was out in Spain he was attacked by a rival gang of Phil's, he tells Sharon that it was her fault and that he hates her, he than tells her to stay away, Midge comes to Walford and is seen in Kathy's Cafe talking to Louise, Midge is a member of the gang that attacked Keanu, Phil and Keanu spot Midge and try to warn him off, but he says he wants his money back. Phil pays Keanu to watch Louise in case Midge tries to kidnap her, Louise believes Keanu fancies her but Keanu tries to tell her he doesn't, which leads to the two having an argument, when Keanu turns his back Midge kidnaps Louise. Phil and Keanu manage to rescue Louise, Keanu decides to give him and Louise a chance and begins to fall in love with her, they become a couple and sleep together. Louise discovers after this that she is pregnant with Keanu's baby, she tells Keanu who does not know how to react, Louise then overhears Phil and Keanu talking about the fact that Phil paid Keanu to be with Louise at first.

Sharon Mitchell Paternity Test (29 July 2019) — The paternity test.

Louise tells Keanu that she had an abortion (which was a lie), Keanu then has a one night stand with Sharon, which results in Sharon also getting pregnant. Keanu tells Louise he is leaving, so she follows him to the tube station, Keanu reveals that Phil did pay him to keep Louise safe, but that he fell in love with her and that their relationship from that point on was genuine, but he says he is angry because he wanted to have the baby with Louise, Louise then apologises and admits she is still pregnant leaving Keanu delighted, the two then reunite. Sharon then does a paternity test to find out if her baby is Keanu's or Phil's and discovers it is indeed Keanu's, Sharon pretends the baby is Phil's however Keanu finds out that the baby is his, he then tells Sharon and Karen he is going to tell Phil and Louise the truth about the affair, Keanu had gotten close to Phil at this point and looked up to Phil as a father figure. Sharon and Karen drug Keanu and tie him up in an abandoned ware house, Keanu thinks Phil has discovered the affair, Sharon and Karen eventually release a terrified Keanu and he agrees to keep the secret and go along that the baby is Phil's.

Mel's blackmail plot[]

Mel Owen swears revenge on Sharon after Sharon called Mel's deceased son Hunter Owen a heartless psychopath on the day of his funeral, Hunter was a killer who took the Queen Vic hostage before being shot by a policeman, Mel discovers Keanu is the real father of Sharon's baby after catching them meeting up in secret, Mel then manages to get evidence by getting a photocopy of Sharon's paternity test. Mel blackmails Sharon she tells Sharon she wants a Villa in Portugal and she wants Louise to go with her, she also demands Sharon sign her half of her Nightclub over to Ruby Allen, Sharon does all these things for Mel, however Mel attempts to tell Phil anyway, so Sharon runs after her and they end up in a car chase, Mel crashes her car during the car chase, Sharon manages to rescue Mel but Mel hears Hunter's voice and goes into the road and dies instantly after being stuck by a lorry, Sharon is upset that Mel has died but is relieved the affair will not be revealed, however Mel took out an insurance policy and told Louise's mom Lisa Fowler that Sharon had an affair and that her baby was not Phil's, when Lisa finds out Sharon was their when Mel died, she thinks that Sharon killed her to keep her secret, Lisa then tells Phil that the baby isn't his, Phil does not believe Lisa and she is sent to a Psychiatric Hospital after breaking down at Mel's funeral and once again claiming the baby isn't his.

Phil discovers the truth[]

Sharon visits Lisa at the hospital and tells Lisa that Keanu is the father of her baby leaving Lisa furious as her daughter Louise at this point was engaged to Keanu and due to be married and had their own child on the way, Phil sees on the sat nav in his car that Sharon had gone to the Hospital Lisa was at, he then realises that Lisa was telling the truth and that Sharon's baby is not his, Phil confides in his son Ben Mitchell, and the pair make it their mission to discover who the real father of Sharon's baby is with Phil vowing to kill them.

Phil's revenge[]

Phil sees Jack Branning and Sharon talking and immediately assumes Jack is the father of Sharon's baby, Phil then tells Ben to find evidence. Ben finds Sharon's necklace in Jack's flat, Ben then tells Phil about what he had found, Phil then gets into his car and prepares to run an oblivious Jack over, but stops when Jack's children walk into the road. Phil later purchases a gun and has his henchmen kidnap Jack, Phil then beats Jack up in the Arches and prepares to kill Jack by setting him on fire from pouring petrol on him and then igniting it with his lighter but Ben and Keanu stop Phil just before he can go through with it. Keanu doesn't understand why Phil is trying to kill Jack until Phil outright accuses Jack of getting Sharon pregnant. Keanu and Ben try to tell Phil he could of have got it wrong, so Phil tells Jack to explain why Sharon's necklace was in his house, Jack then explains that Linda Carter borrowed the necklace from Sharon and must of dropped it when she was in his flat recently. Phil then let's Jack go and Ben begs Jack not to tell the police about what Phil did to him to which Jack reluctantly agrees.

Phil discovers Keanu and Sharon affair — Phil discovers the truth.

On Christmas Eve Phil finally discovers the truth after Keanu and Sharon unintentionally tell Phil the same detail about one of their sexual encounters and Phil puts two and two together. Phil attempts to attack an oblivious Keanu but Ben realises what Phil is about to do and gets Phil out of the house, Phil then tells Ben he is going to kill Keanu, Ben refuses to let Phil kill Keanu, but Ben suggests that he has someone else kill Keanu to stop any evidence being linked back to Phil and Phil agrees, Phil and Ben tell Louise about the affair off-screen and the three conspire to kill Keanu.

On Christmas Day Phil confronts Sharon about the affair, Sharon at first tries to deny it but eventually admits the truth, Sharon tries to explain that she had the affair because Phil was ignoring her, which causes Phil go into a rage and he throws a chair across the table at her, Sharon insists that it was a mistake and Phil begins to cry and tells Sharon he still loves her. Sharon believes Phil has given her a second chance but later in the day Phil gets angry again and insists it's not the case and tells Sharon he has already taken her out of his will, started divorce proceedings and is intending to go for full custody of Dennis as Phil had adopted him for more than two years and tells Sharon he has as much legal rights to keep him as Sharon. Phil then throws Sharon out of his house and tells her she is dead to him and so is Keanu, Sharon then thinks Phil has killed Keanu.

Elsewhere Ben hires Martin Fowler (whom he had been threatening and blackmailing after he set Martin up for stealing cars on a job for Ben and was also threatening Martins family) to kill Keanu, Martin agrees to do the hit as long as Ben wipes away all evidence of his crimes, Ben gives Martin his word and gives Martin a gun.

Episode 6047-6048 (25 December 2019) — Christmas day promo.

Louise confronts Keanu and asks him if he is the father of Sharon's baby, Keanu simply says "yes". Louise is mortified, Keanu insists it was the biggest mistake of his life and that he loves Louise and her and their daughter Peggy are his only priority, Louise agrees to move away from Walford with him and they begin to pack, while they are packing they see Phil walking towards the Vic where he meets Ben, Keanu thinks he's in the clear and him and Louise leave the house. Keanu and Louise get in a car and just before they are about to drive off, Keanu checks if this is definitely what she want, Louise then coldly stares at Keanu and tells him he should never take a Mitchell for a fool. Martin then sneaks up on Keanu and puts a cloth of chloroform to Keanu's mouth and nose, causing Keanu to pass out as Louise watches on (revealing on-screen that Louise had intact betrayed Keanu and was working with Phil, Ben and even Martin).

Peggy Taylor (9 January 2020) — Keanu and Louise's daughter Peggy.

Louise then goes to the Vic and meets Ben, Phil and then rest of the Mitchell family, giving all three of them an alibi. Louise asks Ben if Martin is definitely up to it, Ben unconfidently tells her yes, Ben tells Phil and Louise that he gave Martin a burner phone and has demanded a video of Martin killing Keanu so that Martin could not simply lie and say he had done when he hadn't.

Martin then takes Keanu to a warehouse where a gunshot is heard, Martin then shows Ben a video of Keanu seemingly being shot and Ben believes Martin. Ben then tells Phil that it's done, Sharon then comes into the Vic public exposes her affair with Keanu before telling Dennis to come with her, Dennis is disgusted and tells her he is staying with Phil.

Aftermath[]

A flashback episode on new years day reveals that Martin and Keanu had a fight for the gun after Keanu attempted to escape, Martin manages to get the gun back but couldn't go through with killing Keanu. Martin then finds a drunk Linda who had heard the gunshot and seen him after she was sleeping in his van, Martin grabs her and brings her into the warehouse, Martin then tells Linda that Keanu had an affair with Sharon and that he was the father of her baby, and that Phil and Ben had sent him to kill Keanu. Linda plans to make a fake video, Linda then takes the gun from Martin and shot Keanu in the shoulder and smeared his blood on the floor, Martin then took a video of himself shooting Keanu with an unloaded gun and Keanu falling back, Linda and Martin then bandage Keanu up and tell him to leave Walford for good.

Karen is terrified that Phil has killed Keanu, she calls Phil out in front of the whole pub, Phil denies killing Keanu, however after nodding and smiling at her while she was in tears she tries to attack Phil, however Martin separates the fight and takes Karen back to his place, after seeing how devastated Karen is Martin tells her Keanu is alive. A drunk Linda accidentally tells Sharon that her and Martin faked Keanu's death, Sharon then steals Martin's phone and sends the video of Keanu's supposed 'death' to the police as revenge on Phil for taking Dennis from her, Phil and Ben are arrested for murder, but are released on bail, Phil then goes on the run to Portugal, however Ben stays in Walford despite potentially being re arrested at some point.

The conclusion[]

After word gets out that Phil has left Walford, Keanu's sister Bernadette Taylor phones him and tells him Phil has gone, Keanu returns and meets Sharon, he tells her he wants her to leave Walford with, Sharon agrees but the two do not have enough money so Keanu kidnaps Ben's boyfriend Callum Highway, Keanu then confronts Ben, who is shocked to see Keanu still alive, Keanu demands £100,000 and implies to Ben he will kill Callum if Ben does not get him the money. Ben desperately tries to get the money but can't, so he calls Phil and tells him everything, Phil returns to Walford, Purchasing a gun off Shirley Carter and then taking Karen hostage, demanding to know where Keanu is, Karen refuses to tell Phil so he grabs her pointing the gun into her stomach but is knocked out from behind with a frying pan by Billy Mitchell.

Albie Watts (14 May 2021) — Keanu and Sharon's son Albie.

Billy tells Karen that he had seen Keanu going to the boat party on The Smith-Holland ship, Phil was only pretending to be unconscious and heard the conversation, Phil fails to meet Ben with the money so Ben kidnaps Sharon, taking her to Coker & Mitchell funeral parlour and demands to know where Keanu is, as this is happening Sharon's waters break, Kathy Beale arrives tells Ben she saw Phil and Keanu heading towards the boat party, Ben then leaves and goes after them, Sharon gives birth to her an Keanu's son Albie Watts with Kathy acting as her midwife.

Phil finds Keanu and beats him up, he expresses how much Keanu has hurt him, Keanu tells Phil he is sorry and tells him where Callum is, Phil sends Shirley to find him but she can't find him. Phil believes Keanu is lying and chases him around the ship attempting to shoot him, Keanu and Phil begin fighting and Phil punches the ship captain when he tries to stop the fight, Phil pushes Keanu into the boat wheel, which causes the boat to crash and Phil begins to strangle Keanu but is stopped from killing him by Ben, Keanu, Ben and Phil all manage to escape the sinking boat, as do the other Walford residents on board, except from Dennis, who dies due to drowning after Ian Beale had locked him in one of the boat rooms, Phil witnesses Dennis die and is devastated that he has unintentionally caused his step son's death.

Episode 6084 (21 February 2020) 1 — The boat crash promo.

Sharon spends time in the hospital bonding with her newborn but is heart broken when Keanu arrives and tells her what has happened to Dennis, she blames the affair for Dennis' death after swearing on his life to Louise that she wasn't having an affair with Keanu. She then demands Keanu leave saying she never wants to see him again, bringing an end to the storyline.

Deaths connected to "Sheanu"[]

Mel Owen - Mel was ran over by a lorry after a car chase with Sharon, Mel was threatening to expose Sharon and Keanu's affair.
Dennis Rickman Jr (accidentally killed by Phil Mitchell and Ian Beale) - Phil caused the Smith-Holland boat to crash by throwing Keanu into the boat wheel, Dennis was aboard the ship but couldn't escape due to Ian locking him in a room, Dennis died on the ship via drowning, neither man intentionally killed Dennis but both are responsible for his death.
Keanu Taylor - Was stabbed by Linda Carter in defence of Sharon Watts when he was strangling her after she told him that Albie Watts was not his son but in fact is Phil Mitchell‘s