Kat Slater
Kat Slater is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jessie Wallace. She was also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001, Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018 and Amelia Crouch in video footage in 2025. Kat is the second eldest Slater family sister and first appeared on 18 September 2000. Kat's usual dress is very short skirts and leopard-print tops, with much make-up and heavy fake tan. Her initial stint saw her involved in many storylines, most significantly in a plot twist that sees her supposed sister Zoe Slater, revealed to be her daughter after she was raped by her uncle Harry Slater as a child. Kat and Zoe's relationship is tested several times, and a feud forms when they compete against each other for the affection of Anthony Trueman. Another key aspect to the character's storylines is her marriage to Alfie Moon, prior to which she became briefly engaged to Andy Hunter ; after Kat jilted Andy on their wedding day, he blackmailed her into sleeping with him in his revenge bid against Alfie and Kat. Kat was absent between November 2004 and May 2005 following Wallace's maternity leave. Kat later left the soap on 25 December 2005.
Wallace reprised the role in 2010 and Kat returned on 17 September, before taking leave from the soap again between January and June 2012. Kat departed the soap again in May 2015, returning briefly between December 2015 and January 2016. Wallace reprised her role as Kat in the six-part spin-off series Kat & Alfie: Redwater in 2017. Following the confirmation that Redwater would not return for a second series, it was announced that Kat would instead return to EastEnders; she returned on 22 March 2018. On 26 January 2020, Wallace was suspended from the soap for two months due to her off-screen behaviour, and departed on 23 March. She ultimately returned to work when production of the series resumed during the COVID-19 pandemic, returning on-screen on 7 September 2020.
In the events of Kat's second stint on the soap, in what was called "the biggest soap story in probably the history of soaps", Kat and Ronnie Branning both give birth on the same day, but Ronnie's son, James Branning, dies and while Kat is in hospital and her son, Tommy Moon, is unattended, Ronnie swaps James and Tommy. The storyline received over 6,000 complaints, making it the second most complained about EastEnders storyline. Kat's storylines also include suffering a miscarriage, an affair with Derek Branning which ends her first marriage with Alfie, becoming penniless and permanently scarred in a fire and becoming a millionaire. In 2015, Kat's most prominent storyline – her rape, is revisited when it is revealed that Kat had given birth to twins and she has a secret son, Zoe's twin brother and this facilitates the character's second exit from the soap. In Kat & Alfie: Redwater, Kat discovers her son is a murderous Catholic priest, Dermott Dolan.
Since her reintroduction to the show in 2018, Kat's storylines have focused on the breakdown of her and Alfie's marriage and her separation from Tommy and their twin sons Bert and Ernie Moon; a relationship with Kush Kazemi ; feuds with both her cousin Stacey Slater and enemy Phil Mitchell ; embarking on a relationship with Phil after sleeping with him; surviving an accidental hit-and-run by her friend Whitney Dean ; taking temporary custody of Tommy's half-sister Scarlett Butcher ; a feud with Scarlett's mother, Janine Butcher ; clashing with Phil's sister Sam Mitchell and his ex-wife Sharon Watts over the Mitchell empire; her tumultuous marriage to Phil, ending in their separation; suffering parental abuse from her son Tommy; reconciling with Alfie; becoming landlady of the Queen Vic; reuniting with Zoe, whom she supports through a stalking ordeal; and discovering that she is a grandmother upon meeting Zoe's long-lost daughter, Jasmine Fisher. Wallace has won multiple awards for her portrayal of Kat, who has become one of the show's best-loved characters.
Creation
Casting
In 2000, EastEnders executive producer, John Yorke, decided to introduce the "classic" Slater family. He felt the show needed to go back to its roots and bring back some traditional values. BBC's head of drama, Mal Young commented, "We do not have enough solid families in the soap, there were a lot of fractured families and people who were alone." The family consisted of grandmother Mo Harris ; father Charlie Slater ; and his four children, Lynne Slater, Kat, Little Mo Morgan and Zoe Slater, and Lynne's boyfriend, Garry Hobbs. However, in 2001, it is revealed that Kat was the mother of Zoe, after being raped by her uncle Harry Slater.Actress Jessie Wallace was cast in the role of Kat after the character was developed at an improvisation session for thirty actors and actresses earlier in the year. Speaking of her casting, Wallace commented: "I'm pleased to be playing the champion floosie in the square. I want to achieve Cindy Beale proportions! Basically, Kat goes clubbing, steals other people's men and gets into fights. I love her. Everyone's warned me to expect a lot of stick in the street – Kat's such a full-on character. But I'm prepared for the fact that my life's going to change completely. I can't wait, but at the same time I'm scared." Wallace made her first on-screen appearance as Kat on 18 September 2000.
Characterisation
The character was described as "a bit of a floozy", "fiery", "a bitch" and "feisty". Kat is described by the EastEnders website saying that as soon as she arrived in Walford with her "fake tan, heavy make-up and hoop earrings", viewers would know that Kat would bring a dose of "Viagra to the men of Albert Square". It continues to read: "Her mum had died, dad was grieving and nan was touting stolen meat off the back of lorries.Kat wasted very little time in establishing herself as a drama queen by shocking everyone with the revelation that her youngest sister, Zoe was in fact her daughter. Then she stole her dishy doctor boyfriend for good measure." It continues: "With her enemies closing in, there was nothing to do but return home to Walford for help, complete with a huge baby bump"
Development
Initial stint
On 24 April 2004, it was announced that Wallace was pregnant with her first child and that she would take maternity leave from EastEnders later in the year. Wallace was intended to depart in December, however a pregnancy scare meant that she was forced to stop filming in August, and scripts featuring Kat subsequently had to be re-written. She returned to filming in February 2005 and made her on-screen return in May. Wallace signed a six-month contract in a reported bid to boost the show's ratings.Departure (2005)
In July 2005, the BBC announced that Wallace had decided to leave EastEnders in a mutual decision with producers. A spokesperson for the show praised Wallace's talent and thanked her for her contribution to the series, stating that "Jessie and the writers want Kat Moon to go out on a high." Kat's exit storyline centred upon her on-off relationship with husband Alfie. Shane Richie, who plays him, also announced his decision to quit in April 2005. In 2009, Wallace stated that she missed playing Kat but had no immediate plans to return to EastEnders, despite rumours to the contrary. She noted that the public still associated her with her role, and that she was flattered people still remembered her.Reintroduction (2010)
In February 2010, it was announced that Richie and Wallace would be reprising their roles as Alfie and Kat respectively, with Wallace commenting that she was "excited to slip back into Kat Slater's stilettos." Controller of BBC drama production John Yorke predicted that their return would make "fantastic viewing", given the wealth of new characters introduced since their departure. Wallace signed an initial one-year contract, and returned to filming in July. Wallace and Richie were the first cast members signed by new executive producer Bryan Kirkwood. The decision was made following the resignation of Barbara Windsor, who played Peggy Mitchell, which left what Kirkwood described as a "hole" in the programme. Kirkwood decided that the time was right for Kat and Alfie to return, saying that they "very much herald the new era of EastEnders."The plot saw Alfie and Kat regaining control of The Queen Victoria public house after it burned down, and Kat returning to Walford pregnant, with some public suspicions about the paternity of her child. To promote the characters' return, the BBC released a trailer across the BBC network in September 2010. The western-themed trailer sees Kat outside of The Queen Victoria, with various characters looking on and Kat saying "Where d'ya get a drink around 'ere?" with Alfie replying "I think you're gonna' need one." The advertisement uses the tag line "It's all kicking off in the square". The return, in September 2010, drew 9.22 million viewers and 37.7% of the total TV viewing audience. Kat returned on 17 September 2010.
Wallace admitted she was nervous about reprising the role of Kat. Speaking to TVTimes, Wallace said she'd feared she forgot how to play Kat. She commented: "I missed playing Kat," she said. "Now it feels like I've come home. I was nervous at first because I thought I might have forgotten how to play her, but as soon as I stepped back onto the Square she came back to me. Even when I was out of the show, people called me Kat every day in the street. I was flattered and now I'm having a great time. The recent scripts have been brilliant."
Talking to What's on TV, Wallace commented on Kat's reunion with Alfie. She said: "She punches him! Alfie has come looking for her and hasn't seen her for months. He keeps saying to her 'You're fat' and she says 'I'm not fat. I'm pregnant!' Then she says, 'Don't worry Alfie, it ain't yours'. She's peed off with him. He's been in prison and she's had to survive on her own pregnant. But she loves him unconditionally. No matter what they do, they will always end up together. She wants stability... a future for the baby and her. She sets him this challenge and he buys it."