Kat Slater

Kat Slater

Kathleen "Kat" Moon (née 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. Kat is the daughter of Viv and Charlie Slater (Derek Martin), and arrived with her sisters Lynne Hobbs (Elaine Lordan) and Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth). Her daughter Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) is initially believed to be her sister as well until Kat reveals she was raped by her uncle Harry Slater (Michael Elphick) as a child. She later marries Alfie Moon (Shane Richie). She appeared in the show from September 2000 to November 2004, then returned in May 2005 following a period of maternity leave. She left again on 25 December 2005, and returned on 17 September 2010. Wallace was written out of EastEnders temporarily in January 2012 for a three-month period and returned on 7 June 2012.

Kat is described as "a bit of a floozy", "a bitch" and "very lazy". The EastEnders website says that as soon as Kat 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". Richie revealed in an interview with This Morning that Kat and Alfie would be involved in an ongoing storyline, which he said is "going to be the biggest soap story in probably the history of soaps." At the end of 2010, Kat and Ronnie both give birth on the same day, but Ronnie's baby, James, dies and while Kat is in hospital and her baby, Tommy, is unattended, Ronnie swaps the infants. The storyline received over 6,000 complaints, making it the second most complained about EastEnders storyline. It was then decided to end the storyline earlier than originally planned.

Wallace has won multiple awards for her portrayal of Kat. At the National Television Awards, she was named "Most Popular Newcomer" in 2001 and "Most Popular Actress" in 2003. Wallace was additionally nominated for the "Best Actress", "Best Dramatic Performance" and "Hero of the Year" awards in 2002, and Zoe's maternity was nominated "Best Storyline". She was again nominated "Best Actress" from 2003 to 2006 consecutively, and shared "Best On-Screen Partnership" and "Best Exit" nominations with Richie in 2004 and 2006 respectively. In February 2011, following Kat's return to EastEnders, Wallace was nominated for Best Actress at the 2011 All About Soap Bubble Awards for her portrayal of Kat, and was also nominated alongside Richie for Best Comeback. She won the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) Award for "TV Soap Personality" in March 2011.