{"id":18738,"date":"2022-07-19T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T08:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1681930"},"modified":"2022-07-19T10:25:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T08:25:11","slug":"eastenders-needs-to-let-go-of-phil-mitchell-and-kat-slater-romance","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/eastenders-needs-to-let-go-of-phil-mitchell-and-kat-slater-romance\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders needs to let go of Phil Mitchell and Kat Slater romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharon Watts needs to return to her matriarch status. <\/p>

By Lewis Knight\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Two iconic EastEnders<\/a> characters do not necessarily make for an iconic pairing.<\/p>\n

Veteran hard man Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and long-running Albert Square vixen Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) have been paired up since last year and it has not been smooth sailing.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, Phil has been released from prison after cutting a dodgy deal with the police to become an informant on his criminal connections.<\/p>\n

However, his secrets being kept from Kat led to a shake-up in their romance.<\/p>\n

The biggest obstacle facing this pairing, however, is Phil\u2019s longest-running love interest: Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean).<\/p>\n

The early 1990s saw Phil and Sharon become a forbidden romance, as the Queen Vic landlady had married Phil\u2019s younger brother, Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp).<\/p>\n

Who can forget when the adulterous affair was exposed in 1994 when the \u2018Sharongate\u2019 tapes were played<\/a> by a furious Grant to the entire Vic?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Sharon went on to leave the Square in 1995 but even led another romance with Phil in the early 2000s when she returned.<\/p>\n

However, their next big chance at love occurred after her comeback in 2012 when they eventually went on to reconcile, pursue a romance and marry.<\/p>\n

It was here that Sharon found a new and much-needed identity \u2013\u00a0the Mitchell family matriarch.<\/p>\n

The fabulously camp Sharon is iconic enough on her own but this gave even more added purpose to her character and built on the well of history she shares with Phil.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s no denying the power of Letitia Dean as Sharon Watts in EastEnders<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC,Jack Barnes\/Kieron McCarron<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

While the fabulously soapy affair storyline with Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) and Sharon going on to have his baby, Sharon\u2019s marriage to Phil ended \u2013\u00a0despite their bonding over the death of her son Denny Rickman (Bleu Landau).<\/p>\n

So, Phil found romance with Kat, while Sharon even had a\u00a0<\/span>short-lived fling with Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol).<\/p>\n

Yet, since his prison release, we\u2019ve seen the pair profess their never-ending love for each other \u2013\u00a0despite everything in some emotionally-charged scenes that felt like classic EastEnders.<\/p>\n

The spectre of Grant, however, shattered any hope of a reunion \u2013\u00a0at least for now \u2013\u00a0as Phil soon pursued a reunion with Kat in earnest and she moved back in with him.<\/p>\n

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Kat Slater receives a proposal from Phil Mitchell<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC, Jack Barnes\/Kieron McCarron<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Despite this turn of events, it remains clear that Phil and Kat should not be together and that the soap should reunite him with Sharon.<\/p>\n

There had been numerous examples in the characters\u2019 histories where Phil had caused a great deal of misery for Kat and usually treated her with utter contempt.<\/p>\n

Not least of these was Phil\u2019s ruthless treatment of Kat\u2019s previous love interest Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) in the months prior to his being brutally killed off (the less said about that the better).<\/p>\n

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Do Phil and Kat have what it takes to be a long-running EastEnders couple?<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

So, why would Kat even go near Phil? It\u2019s true she has had a penchant for nasty men in the past \u2013\u00a0we\u2019re looking at you Andy Hunter and Derek Branning \u2013\u00a0but Kat is also loyal to her family and Phil has mistreated them often too.<\/p>\n

The sad truth also is that McFadden and Wallace, while offering dynamic performances on-screen, just don\u2019t ring entirely true as a couple.<\/p>\n

The attempts to turn Kat into a Mitchell matriarch also just don\u2019t feel as natural or appropriate as the long-term development that we saw with Sharon.<\/p>\n

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Shane Richie is returning as Alfie Moon to EastEnders<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Thankfully the upcoming return of Kat\u2019s ex-husband Alfie Moon (Shane Richie)<\/a> may also be another sign that Phil and Kat are not for keeps, as we will no doubt see Richie\u2019s on-screen chemistry with Wallace also reign supreme.<\/p>\n

Let us hope that EastEnders leaves Phil and Kat in the past soon and give us some fiery scenes between Steve McFadden and Letitia Dean as a truly iconic couple.<\/p>\n

PS: If we want some real conflict for the pair, EastEnders could always get Ross Kemp to return as Grant sometime soon.<\/a><\/p>\n