Sharon Watts
| Sharon Watts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Letitia Dean | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| First appearance | Episode 1 "Poor Old Reg" 19 February 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Tony Holland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sharon Watts (also Mitchell, Rickman, and Beale) is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Letitia Dean. Sharon was one of EastEnders' original characters, conceptualised by creators Tony Holland and Julia Smith. She first appeared in the first episode broadcast on 19 February 1985 as the teenage adopted daughter of Queen Vic landlords Den (Leslie Grantham) and Angie Watts (Anita Dobson). Dean originally quit the role in 1995 after ten years before returning for a second stint between 2001 and 2006. Dean returned to the role for a third time in 2012 and has remained on the serial since.
Sharon became prominent in the 1990s due to her becoming the landlady of the Queen Victoria public house and her romantic pairings with brothers Grant (Ross Kemp) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). In a storyline dubbed "Sharongate", Sharon married Grant and then had an affair with Phil, climaxing in 1994 with Grant's discovery of the affair, which remains one of EastEnders' highest-viewed episodes; the storyline was reinvented in 2018 when Sharon began an affair with a much younger Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters). In her second stint, Sharon featured in storylines that included a feud with Phil and Grant's mother Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor); the return of Den, thought long dead, bonding with his wife Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) until it emerged that she killed Den in retribution for sleeping with Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan); and a forbidden relationship-turned-marriage with Den's son Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), which culminated with his death after the couple ended up feuding with gangster Johnny Allen (Billy Murray).
Since 2012, Sharon's storylines have featured an aborted engagement to Jack Branning (Scott Maslen); battling a painkiller addiction; a reunion and tempestuous marriage to Phil; being attacked in her own bar; meeting her biological father Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas) and her affair with Keanu, popularly dubbed 'Sheanu', sparking the events of Sharon having a late-in-life pregnancy, her split and divorce with Phil after her affair with Keanu is revealed, and giving birth to a son, Albie (who Sharon believes is Keanu's son), on the same night her other son, Dennis Jnr, dies in a boat accident due to Phil, stepson Ben (Max Bowden), and Keanu fighting in the wheelhouse, and her friend Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) locking him in a room on the boat as he found out Denny orchestrated the attack on Ian's son Bobby (Clay Milner Russell). Sharon attempts suicide before becoming the landlady of The Queen Vic once again. As part of her revenge plan upon finding out Ian's role in Dennis' death, she marries Ian and attempts to poison him to death but realises she cannot do it and lets him flee. After this, Sharon discovers that she has a half-brother, Zack Hudson (James Farrar); has a fling with Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol); and finds out she has a granddaughter, Alyssa. In December 2022, Keanu returns to Walford, and he and Sharon reunite before getting engaged. Sharon deals with Albie's kidnapping unaware that Keanu has orchestrated it, and she also learns that Albie is not Keanu's son after all and that Phil is his real father. The storyline culminates with Keanu's death on Christmas Day 2023 after Sharon jilts him at the altar after learning of his role in Albie's kidnapping and reveals that Keanu is not Albie's father. Keanu almost kills Sharon before her best friend Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) stabs him to defend her during "the Six" storyline. In 2024, Sharon deals with the grief of losing Keanu, which leads to her being in prison; bumping into Chrissie after framing Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) with the help of the Six; developing a relationship with Phil and Grant's relative, Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian); and a feud with his ex-wife, Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington).
She was named the best EastEnders character of all time by the Daily Mirror in 2020. For her portrayal of Sharon, Dean was awarded the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2022 British Soap Awards.