Suzy Branning

Name: Suzy Branning
First Appeared: 29th April 1996
Last Appeared: 26th December 2008
Played by: Maggie O’Neill

Suzy Branning was the queen of drama in Walford, always ready to shake things up. She first rolled onto the scene in April 1996 for her sister April’s wedding to Nikos. The day took a wild turn when Nikos jilted April at the altar, prompting their sister Carol Branning and her boyfriend Alan Jackson to step in and save the day by getting married themselves. Talk about an eventful family gathering!

Suzy then vanished from the scene until October 2007, missing her nephew Bradley’s wedding to Stacey Slater. Fast forward to July 2008, and she made a dramatic return, calling her brother Max for financial help. Enter Phil Mitchell, who Max sent to deliver the cash to Suzy at her salon, Tantasy. Mistaking Phil for someone sent by her ex, Suzy knocked him out with a figurine—classic Suzy. After some heavies showed up, Phil whisked her away to The Queen Vic, where she thanked him in her unique way—by sleeping with him.

Suzy wasn’t done stirring the pot. She popped up again at Roxy Mitchell’s wedding reception, sharing a kiss with Phil and securing a place to stay for the night. She also asked Max if she could stay with him, all while suspiciously burying something in the allotments, which led to Patrick Trueman accusing her of stealing his potatoes. Suzy assured him otherwise, but the suspicion lingered.

Taking up the spare room at Dot Branning’s house, Suzy also looked after Tanya Branning’s salon. She enlisted Phil to dig up a hidden bar of gold, which he did, and then moved in with her. However, Phil’s son Ben wasn’t thrilled. Things heated up when Phil cheated on Suzy with Shirley Carter, which Suzy found out about. She pretended to be pregnant to con Phil out of his money to pay off her ex-boyfriend Ahmet, but Shirley and Heather Trott discovered Suzy was still buying tampons. The lie fell apart, leading to a breakup.

The drama didn’t end there. Archie Mitchell roped Suzy into planting DNA results in a Christmas cracker, revealing that Sean Slater was not the father of Roxy’s baby. Suzy made a quick exit before Sean found out. Phil soon discovered £10,000 missing and blamed Suzy, prompting a hunt with Shirley. In The Queen Vic, Shirley tripped Suzy, knocking her out and reclaiming the money. When Suzy came to, Shirley burned the money and kicked her out, marking Suzy’s final departure from Walford.