List of East Enders Characters (1993) - Nadia Mitchell

Nadia Mitchell (née Borovac), played by Anna Barkan, is Phil Mitchell's (Steve McFadden) first wife. They have a marriage of convenience, which enables Nadia to stay in the country, but Phil soon regrets his decision. Nadia is first seen in June 1993. Phil provides Hattie Tavernier (Michelle Gayle) a lift to Southampton so she can stop her boyfriend, Steve Elliot (Mark Monero), from leaving the country. Phil waits for her in a nearby bar, where he meets Nadia. Nadia is a Romanian refugee who has come over to England in order to be with her boyfriend Marco — another immigrant, who has been able to stay in the UK due to a marriage of convenience with an English woman. Nadia is sure that she will be deported. Feeling sorry for her, Phil agrees to marry her so she can also stay in the country. He brings her to Walford and they marry on 8 July 1993. Nadia then departs to live with her boyfriend.

Nadia returns in November 1993, needing Phil to play her husband in more realistic ways to prevent her from being deported. While she has been away, Phil has started a relationship with Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth). Phil doesn't help matters by failing to tell Kathy about Nadia initially and she takes an instant dislike to her. Nadia persuades Phil to allow her to move in with him while the home office undertakes their investigation. Nadia manages to convince the representative that the relationship is legitimate, but she neglects to tell this to Phil and he has no choice but to let her remain living with him. Feeling jealous of her husband's real girlfriend, Nadia makes things as difficult as possible for them, and finally seduces a drunken Phil at Christmas 1993 and sleeps with him. Phil regrets it instantly, but Nadia refuses to give up and after getting drunk, she informs Kathy about their tryst. Phil denies it. He throws Nadia out in January 1994 and she then disappears after Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) threatens to kill her if he ever sees her again.

Phil decides to marry Kathy later in the year, but in order to do this, he must divorce Nadia. He attempts to find her but is unsuccessful. However, later in the day Phil pays Marco, Nadia's boyfriend, another impromptu visit and finds Nadia with him. She is still furious about the way Phil and Grant had treated her and when Phil asks her for a divorce, she refuses. Phil threatens to report her to the authorities, but she promises that if he does, she will disappear and he will then be forced to wait until two years of separation have passed before he could be granted a divorce without her consent. However, the following week Nadia shows up in Walford and tells Phil she will divorce him and move to Germany, but only if he gives her £1,000. Phil is angry that he is being blackmailed but has no other alternative, so he gives her the money, after which Nadia departs and is not seen again.