Storylines
Zoe arrives in Walford with her family, presumed father Charlie (Derek Martin), sisters Kat (Jessie Wallace), Lynne (Elaine Lordan) and Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth), and grandmother Mo (Laila Morse), in September 2000. Over a year later, Zoe and Kat argue about Zoe's decision to move away from Walford to live with her uncle Harry Slater (Michael Elphick). Kat tells Zoe she cannot go but Zoe walks out. Kat follows and blurts out that she is Zoe's real mother. She then explains that she fell pregnant at 13 after Harry raped her. Zoe is shell-shocked, and Kat slashes her wrists in despair. Zoe runs away, unable to take in all the recent revelations.
While away, Zoe contacts Little Mo, the only other member of the family who did not know about Zoe's parentage, who persuades Zoe to come home, but after another argument with Kat, Zoe leaves again. She ends up living on the streets where she is discovered sick and penniless by Roxy Drake (Tracy Brabin), a pimp determined to recruit Zoe. Roxy provides Zoe with meals and cigarettes, finds her a flat and forces her to prostitute herself. Roxy and fellow prostitute Kelly Taylor (Brooke Kinsella) dress and make-up Zoe, but she gets drunk and vomits on her client. Kat arrives the next day to take Zoe home, but Roxy tries to prevent her taking Zoe, so Kat headbutts her.
Zoe gets engaged to Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey), but leaves yet again, returning several months later, this time with Kelly in tow, and her engagement to Anthony is broken off. She briefly dates Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), but he is secretly in love with his adopted sister Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), and they eventually reveal their relationship. Sharon and Dennis's father Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) suggests that to keep Dennis, Zoe should claim she is pregnant, since Sharon is infertile. The plan works but Zoe worries Dennis will realise she is not pregnant, and he refuses to sleep with her. Den offers to sleep with her so she can get pregnant and pretend the baby is Dennis's. Dennis catches them in bed together and leaves, but not before telling Den's wife Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman).
Chrissie persuades Zoe to abort the baby and tells her they should team up for revenge on Den. They get together with Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) to do this, meeting up in The Queen Victoria. After Chrissie revealed to Den she was going to leave him, Den physically attacks Chrissie, smashing her head against a fruit machine. Zoe stops him by attacking him with a metal doorstop, supposedly killing him. She runs off and Sam goes after her to calm her down. However, he is not dead, and he grabs Chrissie. She hits him again with the doorstop, killing him. Zoe is led to believe that she killed Den, though Sam sees Chrissie kill Den and eventually tells Zoe, who punches Chrissie. Zoe leaves for Ibiza after having an emotional goodbye from Kat while Chrissie is charged with Den's murder, and Sam goes on the run after.
Read more about this topic: Zoe Slater