Vinnie Monks - Storylines

Storylines

Vinnie was first seen in Walford after he knocked over Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) with his car when she was on her way to court. Vinnie offered to take her to hospital but she wanted to be in court for her son, Deano Wicks (Matt Di Angelo). Vinnie went with her and then took Shirley to hospital and later offered a lift home along with Shirley's friend, Heather Trott (Cheryl Ferguson). When they got home, Vinnie gave his phone number and address to Shirley and told her to telephone him if she needed anything. Shirley pretended to be more injured than she really was, telling Heather, "where there's blame, there's a claim".

He went on to work her shift at The Queen Victoria after being employed by Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) so she could get her normal wages even though she was unable to work due to a neck injury, but he withheld her wages unless she agreed to go on a date with him. Shirley refused, but Vinnie gave her the money anyway along with his phone number. He later turned up a few weeks later when Heather phoned him and, although Shirley wasn't impressed at first, he won her over with a bottle of wine and they went on a date.

It was later revealed that Vinnie has a daughter named Hayley, although Heather thought Vinnie was having an affair when she heard him talking to her on the phone. It was also revealed that the car Vinnie was driving when he knocked Shirley down, was not his. Shirley broke up with Vinnie but they decided to get back together. Vinnie waited for Shirley at the underground station but her watch broke and she turned up late, and he had got on the train before she arrived.

He returned in April 2008 as he realised that he was in love with Shirley. He spent all his money on a deposit on a flat in Walford and begged Shirley to move in with him, forcing her to choose between him and current love interest Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). When Phil showed no inclination of taking things further, a reluctant Shirley agreed to Vinnie's proposal and they began living together.

Over the next few months, Vinnie got a job as a taxi driver at the firm run by Pat Evans and helped organise a Best of British day at The Queen Vic when Shirley was left in charge in June 2008 as the landlady Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) had decided to go on holiday to Portugal in order to visit her son Grant (Ross Kemp) and granddaughter Courtney. He ordered a carousel to be delivered to Walford for the day but it caused trouble when the Miller household exploded after May Wright (Amanda Drew) set it alight as it blocked the road, resulting in the fire engine being unable to come to the rescue. This led to Vinnie, along with Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and Tamwar Masood, helping out by using the Union Jack flag as a net for Mickey Miller (Joe Swash) to fall on.

Despite all this, however, things began to deteriorate in his relationship with Shirley. Over the next few months, Shirley found herself more in love with Phil and less in love with Vinnie. She spent less time with him, constantly going clubbing with Heather, and when Vinnie tried to be romantic by booking them a holiday, Shirley retaliated by taking Heather in his place. After she forgot his birthday, Vinnie finally confronted her, resulting in Shirley revealing her true feelings for Phil. This led to the end of their romance as Vinnie threw Shirley out of the flat, making her homeless. He later relented and gave her the keys to the flat, moving in instead with his mates Garry Hobbs and Minty Peterson.

The following month, Vinnie returned from a boys' holiday with Garry and Minty to find that his son Callum Monks had arrived in Walford and was squatting in their flat. During their conversation, it was revealed that Vinnie had lost touch with Callum over the years due to his extramarital affair which caused the breakdown of his marriage to Callum's mother. Father and son put their differences behind them and Vinnie allowed Callum to stay. He soon warned Callum to stay away from Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner), but upon returning from holiday with his daughter, discovered that they had become a couple.

Vinnie soon began to feel that his life in Walford was pointless, so when an old mate offered him the chance to travel across the world in a vintage car, he immediately took him up on it. Seeing that his ex-girlfriend Shirley was now down on her luck as Phil had a new girlfriend (Suzy Branning), he invited her to come along with him. The couple rekindled their relationship and made their exit from Walford on 1 December 2008. Prior to them leaving, however, Vinnie handed Callum a watch belonging to Phil so that he could return it to him after they'd gone. It transpired that the night before Phil and Shirley had had a one-night stand. With this thought weighing him down Vinnie stopped the car just outside Walford and told Shirley to return to Albert Square as by staying with him she'd only be settling for second best. As Shirley made her way back home, Vinnie was last seen driving off alone to catch a ferry to France.

On 6 March 2009, before departing for good from the Square, his son Callum mentioned he was on his way to visit Vinnie after revealing that his mother had abused him when he was young. It was revealed that Vinnie and Callum are living in Southend. In January 2012, Shirley contacted him after Phil was imprisoned and he agreed to send some work to the Arches.