It’s time for Sharon Watts to assume her position as matriarch.
It’s not always the case that two iconic EastEnders characters constitute an iconic couple.
veteran tough guy Since last year, there hasn’t been good sailing between longtime Albert Square vixen Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden).
After making a dubious arrangement with the authorities to become an informant on his criminal connections, Phil was just freed from prison.
However, the fact that he kept his secrets from Kat caused their relationship to deteriorate.
But Phil’s longest-lasting love interest, Sharon Watts, is the hardest challenge for this couple (Letitia Dean).
Phil and Sharon entered a forbidden relationship in the early 1990s because the Queen Vic landlord had wed Grant Mitchell, Phil’s younger brother (Ross Kemp).
Who can forget how the adulterous affair was revealed in 1994 when an angry Grant broadcast the “Sharongate” tapes to the entire Vic?
After Sharon left the Square in 1995, they even had another relationship when she came back in the early 2000s.
But after her reappearance in 2012, they had their second chance at love when they reconciled, continued their affair, and were married.
Here, as the matriarch of the Mitchell family, Sharon discovered a fresh identity that she desperately needed.
The outrageously campy Sharon is already well-known enough on her own, but this gave her character even more added meaning and deepened the history she has with Phil.
Sharon’s marriage to Phil collapsed despite their bonding through the murder of her son Denny Rickman, while the fantastically soapy affair narrative with Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) with Sharon went on to deliver his kid (Bleu Landau).
Therefore, Phil and Kat became romantically involved, while Sharon even had a brief relationship with Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol).
Since his release from prison, though, we’ve witnessed the couple declare their unwavering love for one another in some intense scenes that felt like they belonged on an older episode of EastEnders.
However, the spectre of Grant ended any chance of a reunion, at least temporarily, since Phil immediately started actively pursuing a reconciliation with Kat, and she moved back in with him.
Despite this turn of events, it is still obvious that Sharon and Phil should be back together in the soap opera.
In the history of the characters, there were many instances where Phil had made Kat’s life miserable and frequently treated her with complete disregard.
One of these was Phil’s cruel treatment of Kat’s former flame Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) in the months before his gruesome murder (the less said about that the better).
Why then would Kat approach Phil at all? Although she has a history of attracting unpleasant men—we’re talking about you, Andy Hunter and Derek Branning—Kat is also devoted to her family, and Phil has frequently treated them poorly.
Sad to say, despite giving compelling performances on TV, McFadden and Wallace just don’t seem like a compatible couple.
Just with Sharon’s long-term evolution, Kat’s aspirations to become a Mitchell matriarch don’t seem as fitting or natural.
Thankfully, Kat’s ex-husband Alfie Moon’s impending comeback (played by Shane Richie) may possibly be another indication that Phil and Kat are not meant to last, as Richie’s on-screen chemistry with Wallace will undoubtedly continue to rule.
Let’s hope that EastEnders gives us some fiery scenes featuring Steve McFadden and Letitia Dean as a really iconic couple shortly after leaving Phil and Kat in the past.
