Julie Bates
| Julie Bates | |||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Karen Henthorn | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1997–1998, 2025–2026 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 1504 15 September 1997 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 7334 21 May 2026 | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Jane Harris (1997) Chris Clenshaw (2025) Ben Wadey (2025) | ||||||||||||
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Julie Bates (also Haye) is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders played by Karen Henthorn. She originally appeared between 15 September 1997 and 30 April 1998.
Julie was introduced as a love interest for the established character Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley). After "a whirlwind affair", the couple leave the soap together for a new life in Scotland. She made an unannounced voice-only return on 6 January 2025. On 26 June 2025, it was announced that Julie would return full-time later in the year to coincide with Nigel's ongoing dementia storyline. She returned on 15 July. After Nigel's funeral, she departed on 21 May 2026.