Zoe Slater is the daughter of Harry Slater and Kat Mitchell, sister of Dermott and the half-sister of Tommy, Bert and Ernie. She made her first appearance on 18 September 2000. She is portrayed by Michelle Ryan.
Storylines[]
2001-2005: Arriving in Walford, discovering out her true parentage and Den's murder[]
Zoe Slater first arrives in Walford with her family, The Slaters, in September 2000. Zoe's arrival wasn't the only arrival that day, the other relatives consist of her sisters Kat, Lynne Hobbs and Little Mo Slater, their father Charlie Slater, and grandmother Mo Harris. Over a year after their arrival, Zoe and Kat begin to argue about Zoe's decision to leave Walford to live with her Uncle Harry. Kat orders Zoe that she cannot go to him but Zoe instead walks out. In a heated row, Kat follows her out and loudly blurts out that she is Zoe's real mother. Kat later explains that she fell pregnant at 13 due to being raped by Harry, thus revealing that Harry is Zoe's actual father, not Charlie. Zoe is beyond shell-shocked, and Kat then slashes her wrists in despair. Following a series of dramatic events, Zoe decides to runs away, unable to process the current situation.
While away, Zoe contacts Little Mo - the only other member of the Slater family who was oblivious to Zoe's true parentage, Little Mo luckily persuades Zoe to come home, but after another furious argument with Kat, Zoe leaves once again. She ends up living on the streets feeling hopeless, where she is later discovered sick and penniless by Roxy Drake, a pimp who was determined to recruit Zoe. Roxy kindly provides Zoe with meals and cigarettes, finds her a flat but then forces Zoe to prostitute herself. Roxy and a fellow prostitute, Kelly Taylor dress and make-up Zoe for her prostitution work, however Zoe gets drunk which then results in her vomitting on her client. The following day, Kat arrives to support Zoe and take her home, but Roxy tries to prevent her from taking Zoe, so Kat headbutts Roxy and leaves with Zoe anyways, regardless of Roxy's input.
Zoe and Anthony Trueman romantically get engaged, but Zoe leaves once again, and like before, she returns several months later, however Kelly is in tow this time, and Zoe's engagement to Anthony is broken off and over. She then briefly dates Dennis Rickman, but she doesn't realise that he is secretly in love with his adoptive half-sister Sharon Watts after some time, the two half-siblings reveal their relationship. Sharon and Dennis' father Den Watts suggests that for Zoe to keep Dennis, she should lie and state that she is pregnant, since Sharon is infertile. The plan successfully works but Zoe has concerns that Dennis will sooner or later realise she is not pregnant, and in result, he will refuse to sleep with her. Den then offers to sleep with her so that she can get pregnant and pretend that the baby is Dennis's. Dennis later catches the pair bed together and leaves, but not before telling Den's wife, Chrissie Watts.
Chrissie then manages to persuade Zoe to abort the baby and then adds on that they should team up for revenge on Den and all of his devious acts. They go ahead with this and they get Sam Mitchell involved too, eventually, the 3 meet up in The Queen Victoria. Part of the plot, Chrissie sends for Sharon, claiming that Den is on his deathbed. Sharon later finds out that Chrissie lied and also upon learning what her father did to Dennis and Zoe, Sharon angrily disowns Den before leaving Walford once more. This was all part of Chrissie's plan to get Sharon out of Den's life due to getting payback for cheating on Chrissie with Zoe. Right after Sharon leaves, Den realises what Chrissie did and in anger, proceeds to attack her - smashing her head against the jukebox, Zoe panics and attacks him with a metal doorstop, supposedly killing him, or so she thought. In a distraught state, Zoe runs off and Sam goes after her to calm her down. Although, Den is not actually dead, and he violently grabs Chrissie. Chrissie hits him again with the doorstop, finally killing Den, resulting in Chrissie being the murderer rather than Zoe. Following his murder, Zoe is still led to believe that she killed Den - though Sam sees Chrissie kill Den and struggles to keep quiet and eventually breaks it to Zoe, who then punches Chrissie. After all of the horrifying experiences, Zoe once and for all leaves Walford to go to Ibiza after having an emotional goodbye with Kat. Back in Walford, Chrissie is eventually caught out for what she did and is charged with Den's murder and Sam subsequently goes on the run due to being connected to the murder.
2005-2022: Mentions[]
In 2015, Kat reveals to Mo and Stacey Branning that she will start saving up to visit Zoe, who has recently moved to Spain. Although, Mo negatively tells Stacey that Zoe does not want to see Kat for an abrupt reason. Mo then attempts to contact Zoe to get her to reconsider her decision, but Kat then finds out two days later via a text from Zoe that the real reason Zoe cannot see Kat is because of her new job and her boyfriend, additionally, she feels she needs to move on with her life and leave Kat and Walford in the past. In May 2015, Kat decides to visits the convent where she give birth to Zoe many years ago, it is then revealed to the viewers that when Zoe was born, Kat actually had twins - meaning Zoe has a twin brother. Kat then moves to Spain and visits Zoe, who yet again rejects her mother, leaving Kat devastated because of this. Kat later states that Zoe is now engaged too.
Zoe was mentioned by Kat in March 2020, after she tells Bex Fowler that she hasn't seen Zoe in 15 years.
Zoe is mentioned again in July 2022 when Kat is relectuant whether to send an invitation to Zoe for her wedding to Phil Mitchell. After finding the invitation, Lily, Stacey's daughter, tracks down Zoe online and reveals she is back living in London and messages her to meet up with Kat at Peggy's. When Kat finds out about this, she shouts at Lily, telling her that the relationship between her and Zoe is complicated. Kat subsequently goes to Peggy's but Zoe doesn't turn up.
Kill count[]
Connected murders and deaths[]
- Den Watts (18 February 2005) (association) - Helps Chrissie and Sam dispose of Den's body
Attempted Murder Victims[]
- Den Watts (18 February 2005) (defence) - Hits him over the head to stop him killing his wife Chrissie Watts, Zoe originally believed she killed Den, but he was finished off by Chrissie with Sam Hunter being the only witness to the murder.
Resident history[]
| Address | Years |
|---|---|
| 23 Albert Square | 2000-2005 |
| 43A Albert Square | 2003 |
| 43B Albert Square | 2004 |
| The Queen Victoria | 2004-2005 |
Quotes[]
To the Slater Family (when first moving into 23 Albert Square; first line): "So, who's gonna be first over the threshold?" (18 September 2000)
To Kat Slater: "You can't tell me what to do, you ain't my mother!" (1 October 2001)
To Dot Cotton: "Zoe, chapter 1. Shut yer cakehole."
To Kat Slater (last line): "I love you, mum." (24 June 2005)