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Bianca Butcher
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| EastEnders character | |
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| Bianca Jackson | |
| Portrayed by | Patsy Palmer |
| Duration | 1993–1999, 2008— |
| First appearance | 16 November 1993 |
| Date of birth | 17 July 1977 |
| Status | Divorced |
| Home | Manchester |
| Occupation | Fashion student |
| Family | David, Carol, Liam, Robbie, Sonia, Billy |
Bianca Jackson (née Branning; previously Butcher) is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Patsy Palmer.
Fiery red-head Bianca was never one to shy away from speaking her mind and her sharp tongue often got her into a lot of trouble. She had a rather stubborn streak and woe betide anyone who got on her wrong side. She tended to do what she wanted, regardless of the consequences, and this eventually led to her downfall.
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Bianca arrived in Albert Square late in 1993 with the rest of the Jackson clan - mother Carol, stepfather Alan, half brothers Robbie and Billy, half sister Sonia and Alan's grandmother Blossom. Bianca, along with her inseparable sidekick Natalie Price, were soon causing trouble and making their presence felt on the Square.
Bianca's father, David Wicks, was unknown to her until she was 17. After getting Carol pregnant and persuading her to have an abortion, he had fled not realising that she had kept the baby. When they were eventually reunited in 1995 they began to bond, although Bianca was frequently let down by her selfish father.
Bianca had various jobs during her time in Walford. She initially worked at Ian Beale's fish and chip shop, before becoming the market assistant of Sanjay Kapoor. Later on she branched out, running her own clothing stall on Bridge Street market.
She was known for her bizarre sense of style, her sharp tongue and fiery temper and for screaming 'Rickaaaaay' at her husband. She had a volatile relationship with Ricky and frequently denounced him as boring. She often interfered in other people's business, particularly Tiffany Raymond's, who became her best-friend following Natalie's departure in 1995. Bianca particularly disliked Tiffany's relationship with Grant Mitchell and the two often argued over the way he treated Tiffany.
Bianca had always had a thing for older men and when the market inspector Richard Cole offered her a job cleaning his flat in January 1994, she couldn't resist flirting with him, which he reciprocated. They had a fling, however Richard soon tired of her. He dumped her and fired her from the cleaning job, but forgot to reclaim the keys for his flat. Bianca and Natalie set about taking revenge on Richard.
They harassed him with prank calls, let themselves into his flat to rearrange his furniture and stole his credit card. They ordered numerous expensive items for themselves and Richard. Richard initially thought he had a secret admirer adorning him with gifts, but had a rude awakening when he got his credit card bill. He soon figured out Bianca was responsible and threatened her with the police. Bianca and Natalie managed to put a stop to this, by using blackmail. They claimed that Bianca was only 15 when Richard slept with her and threatened to inform the police that he'd seduced an under-age girl unless he left her alone. Richard was forced to drop the matter.
Bianca then set her sights on local car dealer David Wicks. However, unbeknown to Bianca, David was actually her biological father, who had been unknown to her until now. Bianca tried several times to seduce David, until Carol told David the truth — that he was flirting with his own daughter. To Bianca's bemusement, David kept his distance from her for a while.
Bianca soon set her sights on a new man, simple mechanic Ricky Butcher, and because Bianca always got what she wanted, the two were soon an item. They moved into a bedsit together, despite an array of objection from Carol, and David — who suddenly developed a paternal instinct towards his daughter and became overly protective. However, things did not go smoothly for the couple. Money was often tight and Bianca became preoccupied with spending her time clubbing with her old school friend, Tiffany Raymond. Sick of Bianca's bullying and demanding ways, best friend Natalie and boyfriend Ricky embarked on a secret affair behind her back.
It wasn't long before Natalie started pressurising Ricky to come clean to Bianca, but after he failed to do this Natalie took matters into her own hands and planted some lingerie in his work overalls with the hope that Bianca would find it. Inevitably, Bianca found the bra, but the thought that it might be Natalie's didn't even enter her head and she immediately went to confide in her friend about what to do. Natalie then schemingly suggested that Bianca should follow Ricky so she could catch him in the act with the 'mystery woman'. Later that evening Ricky went out for his usual rendez-vous with Natalie in The Arches, but he was unwittingly followed by Bianca and he and Natalie were caught in a steamy clinch, which was just what Natalie had planned. Bianca was furious. She threw chips in Ricky's face, cut up all his clothes and drove Natalie out of Walford in February 1995.
Bianca brooded around feeling sorry for herself. After a night of heavy drinking Bianca picked up a man at a bar. He took her back to Walford and tried to assault her, but was stopped by David's chance passing. Concerned, David took her to the car-lot to sober her up. However this led Bianca to believe that David was sexually attracted to her. To his horror she attempted to kiss him, before he finally told her that he was her father, and a mortified Bianca spent many weeks coming to terms with the news. Despite her mother's misgivings, Bianca and David began to form a father/daughter relationship, which was often tested to its limits because of both David and Bianca's selfish and inconsiderate tendencies.
After much begging from Ricky, Bianca finally relented and took him back, however she never let him forget his betrayal. Ricky and Bianca got engaged in July 1995, and they managed to survive interference from his first wife Sam and her attempts to split them up. Bianca's devotion to Ricky tended to fluctuate however, and in July 1996, while Ricky was away she began to grow lonely and seek the attention of other men. She ended up sleeping with the womanising barman, Lenny Wallace, behind Ricky's back. She soon regretted her dalliance however, when she feared she'd fallen pregnant to him. It was a false alarm, but the shock made her realise how much Ricky meant to her and so in 1997 the two married. Bianca opted not to tell Ricky about her infidelity with Lenny.
That same year Bianca actually did fall pregnant with her first child and both Bianca and Ricky were overjoyed. Tragedy struck however, when a pre-natal examination confirmed that Bianca's unborn child was affected with Spina Bifida. This led a distraught Bianca to make the decision to abort her unborn child, a decision which put a massive strain on her marriage, and Bianca grieved for a long time after.
Bianca's past finally came back to haunt her in 1998, when Lenny discovered that there was a chance he had contracted an STD, which led to hysterics when Bianca found out that she may also have been infected. This led to Ricky discovering Bianca and Lenny's past tryst and for a while it looked as if their relationship would end. However Lenny was later given the all-clear and Bianca managed to convince Ricky to give their marriage another go.
In 1998 Bianca fell pregnant for a second time, and in true Bianca style the birth was fraught with drama. Whilst on a crusade to retrieve Tiffany's daughter, Courtney, from her father on Christmas Day 1998, Bianca went into labour. Refusing to go to the hospital without Ricky, Bianca ended up giving birth to baby Liam in the Queen Vic, helped by her nemesis Grant. However, days later, disaster struck again for Bianca when her best friend Tiffany was run over and killed by Frank Butcher.
Over the next six months, Bianca took to motherhood, and even managed to patch up her differences with her old nemesis and Walford returnee Natalie Price. However, her happiness was short lived when her mother returned to Albert Square with her new fiancée Dan Sullivan. Unbeknownst to Carol, an underage Bianca had previously had a relationship with Dan before she moved to the Square, and it wasn't long before the two rekindled their torrid affair behind their partners' backs.
They put a halt on things when Carol discovered she was pregnant with Dan's child, and Bianca and Ricky made plans to move away to Manchester so Bianca could attend fashion college there. However, after finding an old photo of Bianca and Dan together, Carol demanded to know their history. Caught out, Dan told Carol that they once had a romance that ended years ago, and swore on the life of his unborn child that it was over.
An angry Carol went to question her unsuspecting daughter about her untruths. Unaware that Dan had covered their recent affair with a lie, Bianca confessed that she'd been seeing Dan behind Carol's back for months. It wasn't long before Ricky found out the truth too. Both Ricky and Carol decided they wanted nothing more to do with Bianca, and Bianca left for Manchester with baby Liam in September 1999.
In May 2002, in a special spin-off episode, Ricky and his new fiancée, Cassie, went to see Bianca in Manchester to discuss custody of Liam. Things had not turned out as planned for Bianca. She'd been expelled from her university and she'd ended up living in a grotty flat and working in a seedy nightclub. Struggling to support her child, Bianca became desperate and was caught up in a plan to steal £50,000 from her drug-dealing boss, Vince.
Ricky persuaded her to return the money, but as they delivered it they were apprehended by Vince, who threatened to harm them unless they became his drug couriers. Ricky and Bianca were forced to oblige. They took what they thought was a package of money, but as they arrived at the meeting point, Bianca realised that the package contained paper instead of money. The drug dealers arrived expecting payment and weren't pleased to discover Bianca and Ricky were attempting to con them. They pulled out knives, but Ricky and Bianca were saved when armed police raided the establishment. Ricky and Bianca escaped and spent the night in a hotel room, where old feelings resurfaced and they slept together.
The next morning they returned to Bianca's flat to find that Vince had hijacked Cassie and Liam. Vince divulged that he had used them to set-up the drug dealers, hoping that they would also get arrested. Vince then let them go, promising that the matter was now closed. Ricky and Bianca spent time alone together and they confessed that they still loved one another and decided to reunite. While Bianca returned home to pack, Ricky broke the news to Cassie, but she was unwilling to let him go. She convinced Bianca that a life with Ricky would bore her and she would end up breaking his heart again. She pleaded with her to let him have full custody of Liam and Bianca eventually decided this was the right thing to do. She packed her belongings and left. Ricky searched for her and then looked on heartbroken as Bianca hitched a ride in a car and departed for destinations unknown. Ricky returned to Walford with Liam in August 2002, but they moved on again in 2004.
Bianca's sister Sonia, her fiancé Martin and their daughter Rebecca have since moved to Manchester to live with Bianca.
Bianca is set to return to Eastenders in March 2008. [1] With Liam and Ricky returning a week later for Frank Butcher's funeral.
- Father: David Wicks
- Mother: Carol Jackson
- Half brothers: Joe Wicks, Robbie Jackson, Billy Jackson
- Half sisters: Karen Wicks (deceased), Sonia Fowler
- Son: Liam Butcher
- Daughter: Natasha Butcher (deceased)
- Grandfathers: Pete Beale (deceased), Jim Branning
- Grandmothers: Pat Evans, Reenie Branning (deceased)
- Great grandfather: Albert Beale (deceased)
- Great grandmothers: Lou Beale (deceased), Lydia Harris (deceased)
- Niece: Rebecca Miller
- Uncles: Simon Wicks, Ian Beale, Max Branning, Derek Branning, Jack Branning
- Aunts: Sue Branning, April Branning
- Great uncles: Harry Beale, Kenny Beale, Ronnie Beale (deceased), Jimmy Harris (deceased), Geoff Harris
- Great aunts: Pauline Fowler (deceased), Maggie Flaherty, Dora Beale, Joan Harris (deceased)
- Great great great aunt: Dolly Beale (deceased)
- Cousins: Bradley Branning, Abi Branning, Lauren Branning, Oscar Branning, Steven Beale, Peter Beale, Lucy Beale, Bobby Beale
- First cousins once removed: Elizabeth Beale, Michelle Fowler, Mark Fowler (deceased), Martin Fowler, Conor Flaherty, Eamonn Flaherty, John Flaherty, Tommy Flaherty, Billy Harris, Jean Harris, Gordon Branning
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Frank Butcher | Clare Butcher | Ricky Butcher | Liam Butcher | Diane Butcher | Jacques Butcher | Janine Evans | Joan Garwood Spouses: Mo Butcher | Pat Evans | Peggy Mitchell | Sam Mitchell | Bianca Jackson | Barry Evans |