was a
Fictional Character in the popular
BBC Soap Opera ''
EastEnders ''. He was played first by Stuart Stevens and later by
Edward Savage .
Steven was born on Boxing Day 1989 to
Cindy Beale and
Simon Wicks , although Cindy was married to
Ian Beale at the time and convinced Ian that he was Steven's father.
Ian found out the truth and Cindy ran off with Simon but Simon soon got bored and Cindy and Ian got back together, Ian bringing up baby Steven as he own. In 1993, they had twins,
Peter and
Lucy .
Cindy later had an affair with Simon's brother,
David Wicks . Cindy planned to run off to
Italy with the children. She hired a hitman to shoot Ian and managed to snatch Steven and Peter but Lucy got left behind. Almost a year later, Ian tracked the boys down and kidnapped them back and Cindy returned to fight for custody of the children. Custody was granted but she was imprisoned for attempting to kill Ian. She died in childbirth in prison. Steven was the only one of Cindy's three eldest children to travel to where Cindy's sister and mother lived and go to Cindy's funeral which was held nearby. He was also the only one to meet his baby half-sister, named Cindy after her mum, who is being brought up by Cindy Sr.'s mother and sister.
For a while, Ian was a single father brining up the three children, before he meet
Melanie Healy. At first Steven found his dad being with Mel hard, and Mel, having no children herself, found it difficult to cope with three young children. However after a while the children loved Mel and she loved them too. Shortly after Ian and Mel became engaged, Ian believed that Mel was having doubts about the marriage and was only really with him because of the children. Recent months had been hard as Lucy had become ill with suspected cancer. When Lucy's test results came back clear, Ian lied to Mel and told her that Lucy was dying in order to emotionally blackmail her into marriage. Mel married Ian on New Year's Eve 1999 but found out the truth and walked out on him as the clock struck midnight into the new Millennium.
After Mel and Ian split up, Steven became angry with Mel for walking out on the family. When Ian prepared to marry Steven's former nanny
Laura Dunn , Steven was anxious that they would end up splitting up, although Ian assured Steven they wouldn't.
But when Steven caught his father kissing prostitute
Janine Butcher , it looked like his fears may have been about to come true. From being a quiet, sensitive boy, Steven started rebelling and bunking school. When Laura found out, she confronted him and they started to row a lot. During one of their rows, Steven let slip that Ian had slept with Janine. Ian denied this to Laura and Steven later claimed he made it all up when Ian told Steven that if he told the truth Laura would leave and Steven didn't want that. However, Janine later told Laura the truth and Laura kicked Ian out, keeping the children with her.
Ian and Laura later got back together but their marriage became very troubled, which had a very negative effect on Steven, who became angry with the world. He started writing poison pen letters to people. The identity of who was writing these letters remained a mystery for some time before Steven was found out and many people suspected Laura, as a lot of the letters were aimed at Janine. Laura suspected Janine herself was doing it to frame her and gain sympathy, however, even Ian admitted that he suspected Laura. In a rage, Laura picked up Steven's schoolbag and threw it across the room at Ian and bits of poison pen letters spilled out onto the floor. Ian confronted Steven and, when Steven had gone to his room, Ian shouted to himself that Steven was 'Cindy's little brat!' Steven overheard and Ian told him he was not his natural father. Steven went to stay with his paternal grandmother
Pat Butcher for a while before deciding to live with Simon, who now lived in
New Zealand .
Before Steven left, Ian told him that Laura was pregnant. This was a shock to Ian as, although Laura wanted children, he didn't, and had had a secret vasectomy. However, Ian assumed it hadn't worked and informed Steven that he was soon to have a baby brother or sister and the marriage was solid (although they later divorced after Ian found out Laura had had an affair with
Garry Hobbs . He thought the baby
Bobby was Garry's, however, gained custody of Bobby after Laura died when he found out Bobby was his after all and the vasectomy really hadn't worked.) Steven said goodbye to Ian and Laura and they waited for him to return but he decided to live in New Zealand with Simon and never did.
Steven has rarely been spoken about in Eastenders since, however in 2005 Ian did mention to girlfriend
Jane Collins when she said she wanted children that he had four children already, suggesting he still thinks of Steven as his son. Pat went to stay with Simon and Steven over Christmas 2005 and said when she came back that Steven had grown.
- ''(When Lucy was ill with suspected cancer)'':: I'm scared, Mel. '''Mel''': Steven, Lucy's not going to die. Not for a very long time. : But what if she does?
- 'It's okay, dad. We don't need Melanie. We still love you.'
- ''(Just after Mel and Ian had split up)'': ''(To Lucy)'': Hello, gorgeous. '''Lucy''': Mel, can you come to tea, today? : Not today, darling. '''Lucy''': Maybe tomorrow. (looking at Ian) Well, maybe.'''Steven''': No, she won't. She's lying. '''Ian''': ''(to Mel)'': Satisfied?
- : Hello, dad. Had a nice day?'''Ian''': pass
- ''(To Ian)'' 'Laura's very good at computer games...better than you!'
- : Steven, your dad and me, we love you.'''Steven''': He doesn't. : Of course he does. '''Steven''': Then why's he having an affair with that tart Janine?
- ''(To Janine at Halloween)'' 'Ergh! Oh no, it's not a mask, it's your face!'
- ''(About writing the poison pen letters)'' 'They deserved it, dad. They're liars and cheats like you.
