What happened between Dean Wicks and Chelsea Fox in EastEnders?
Spoiler warning for the episode on Thursday 2nd November 2023.
Spoiler warning for EastEnders’ episode released at 6am on BBC iPlayer on Thursday 2nd November 2023 and to be broadcast at 7.30pm on BBC One.
EastEnders has revisited the past bond between Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) and Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams), as Dean sought her out in a bid to gain an ally.
Dean returned after several years away, and was not welcomed home, still denying that he had raped Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) and tried to rape Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons). When Chelsea was accosted by Dean, she repeatedly called him by his old nickname ‘Deano’, and tried to walk away from him.
But Dean continued to follow Chelsea as she made her way home, telling her what he knew about her life and protesting his innocence over his crimes. Dean went on to explain that his 15-year-old daughter Jade Green is very ill and added that he still saw Chelsea as a sister.
He persuaded her to join him for a coffee, and Chelsea did so. Dean insisted that he didn’t want to come back to Walford, as he had new friends who didn’t know what he had been accused of. Chelsea maintained that she didn’t believe his version of events, while Dean continued his story that he merely wanted to be around for Jade, who may not live for long even if she gets a transplant.
Dean wanted Chelsea to talk to Linda for him, and Chelsea’s response was powerful: “I have had enough with men that lie to me; who think that they can just pile on enough sweet talk. I am done with it, Deano. I’m done.”
When Linda tried to warn Chelsea about Dean, Chelsea kindly explained that she wasn’t on his side, adding that Dean thought they were family just because his stepdad was briefly married to her mother. Chelsea assured Linda that she had her back, and Dean watched on, knowing he had no chance of earning any support.
But what exactly happened between Dean and Chelsea all those years ago? Read on to find out…
What happened between Dean and Chelsea in EastEnders?
Back in 2006, Dean was, as mentioned above, known as ‘Deano’ and living with his great-aunt Pat Evans (Pam St Clement) alongside stepfather Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels) and sister Carly (Kellie Shirley).
Kevin married Chelsea’s mum Denise Fox (Diane Parish), and one day a troubled Deano drove recklessly and crashed a car at high speed, leaving himself and passenger Chelsea, then played by actress Tiana Benjamin, injured.
At one point, Deano had a crush on Chelsea, which was not reciprocated, and Chelsea used this knowledge to get Deano to enter into a feud with Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky), wanting to sabotage Sean’s romance with Carly.
But when Deano tried to attack Sean, Sean turned the tables on him and left Deano bruised and battered. Chelsea and Deano wanted revenge, so they framed Sean for an attack on Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker), stealing CCTV footage that would have proved Sean’s innocence.
Sean was jailed but ordered payback by getting a gang to attack Deano. Carly found the CCTV footage and got the real culprit in Patrick’s attack sent down, and Sean was released. Deano and Chelsea were arrested, and they went to prison for a short time.
Chelsea left Walford in 2010 and was not seen again until 2020 when Abrahams took over the role, so this has been the first time Chelsea and Dean have shared the screen in 15 years. And it doesn’t look like Chelsea will ever want anything to do with Dean after their history, and his vile acts since.
