Cindy Beale

This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page.

Villain Overview Gallery

Evil-doer
Full Name	Cindy Williams
Alias	Cindy Beale Rose Knight Mrs. Beale Rose Knight "Evil bi-ch" "Ta-t"
Origin	EastEnders
Occupation	Businesswoman
Powers / Skills	Manipulation Charisma Intelligence Exceptional wealth
Hobby	Seducing Ian and other men. Getting what she wants by any means necessary.
Goals	Have Ian Beale killed. Take custody of Peter, Lucy, and Steven (both failed).
Crimes	Attempted murder Adultery Kidnapping Theft Fraud Blackmail Conspiracy Assault
Type of Villain	Charismatic Femme Fetale

“	Oh Ian, watch out.	„
	~ Cindy Beale's quote to her husband Ian Beale before she witnesses him getting shot, which she had secretly arranged in order to have him killed so she can get custody of their children for herself.

Cindy Beale is a fictional character and major antagonist in the long running BBC British soap opera EastEnders. She first appeared as a main character from 1988 to 1990 and then became one of the show's main antagonists from 1992 to 1998, after which the character had allegedly been killed-off from childbirth off-screen. However, Cindy later returned to the show in June 21st 2023 and became an anti-hero from then onwards.

She is portrayed by Michelle Collins, who later played Stella Price in Coronation Street.

Overview

In her storyline, Cindy embarked on a relationship with main protagonist Ian Beale that later resulted in the pair getting married. But it soon transpired that Cindy is a hedonistic and manipulative woman who schemes and lies to get what she wants. So much so that she cheated on Ian multiple times, which included a prolonging affair with his half-brother David Wicks. By the time Ian discovered her treachery, Cindy sought to have him killed by a hitman named John Valecue in order to claim custody of her children. However, Ian survived and ultimately Cindy was arrested for her crimes. It was then she had allegedly died from childbirth off-screen in November 1998; however, two and a half decades later in 2023, Cindy is revealed to have faked her death and assumed the identity of 'Rose Knight'.

Besides the fact that she was the first person to marry Ian Beale, who by now has become the show's longest-serving character to date, Cindy is also the mother of their children Peter Beale and Lucy Beale along with her other children Steven Beale and Cindy Williams. Additionally she is the grandmother of Louie Beale. Furthermore, due to her new life as 'Rose Knight' on an apparently recent basis, Cindy is also the ex-spouse of newly-established character George Knight as well as the mother of his two daughters Gina and Anna respectively.

Biography

1988-1990

Cindy Williams first arrived in Albert Square in 1988, where she began working at her mother's hat stall in the market. She began dating Simon Wicks, who was also seeing Donna Ludlow, leading to both women fighting for his attention. Eventually growing tired of Simon's womanizing, despite his genuine feelings for her, Cindy moved on and began seeing Ian Beale. She initially only started spending time with Ian to make Simon jealous, but eventually the two began dating and became engaged shortly afterward.

Simon retaliated by reigniting his relationship with Sharon Watts. However, when working late at the The Queen Victoria, Cindy and Simon had sex, with Cindy becoming pregnant. Cindy suggested that she leave Ian and settle down with Simon, but he refused, not wanting to upset his family or be tied down by fatherhood. As such, Cindy married Ian and gave birth to a boy in 1989 - the boy was named Steven and afterwards she let Ian believe that he was the baby's father. However, Simon soon decided that he wanted to be a father to his son, and convinced Cindy to leave Ian for him; she revealed to Ian that he wasn't Steven's father, devastating him. Ian's behaviour became increasingly erratic; following a failed suicide attempt, he attempted to ruin Simon's life, prompting Simon to leave Walford with Cindy and Steven, leaving Ian heartbroken.

1992-1998

In 1992, Ian learned that Simon had abandoned Cindy and Steven. He thereafter convinced her to return to Walford so they could look after Steven together. In 1993, Cindy got pregnant again and she became romantically involved with Ian's love rival Richard Cole. When she rejected his advances, Richard claimed that he was the father to get payback on Cindy for rejecting him. Everyone on the Square believed his lies, and Ian and Cindy almost separated as a result, before the truth came out that Ian was indeed the father shortly before she gave birth to twins Peter and Lucy in December of that year.

However, Cindy began to feel bogged down by married life and motherhood, and she began having affairs with several men in 1995; first with a lifeguard named Matt, and then with Ian's half-brother David Wicks (who was also Simon's half-brother). She began to fall in love with David, growing more and more intolerant of Ian and his behaviour. Meanwhile, Ian had begun to suspect that Cindy was cheating on him, and so hired a private investigator to follow her. The investigator caught Cindy and David in a clinch, leading to Ian filing for a divorce and vowing to take her to court for custody of their children. David lost interested in Cindy and she resorted to drastic measures in October 1996, hiring hitman John Valecue to kill Ian. She ended up changing her mind at the last minute, but was unable to stop Valecue from shooting Ian, who collapsed in a pool of blood in front of her.

Ian survived the hit, but was unable to identify his assailant. When David was called in by the police for questioning, they began to suspect Cindy's involvement; realizing that she would soon be arrested, she fled the country with Steven and Peter, with the help of David and his friend Barry Evans. As she was forced to leave without Lucy in the end, David promised to her that he would arrange for Lucy to join her later; he never did.

In 1997, Ros Thorne, a private investigator Ian hired to locate his children, tracked Cindy down and discovered she was living in Italy. Ian, alongside his step-father Phil Mitchell and Phil's brother Grant, traveled to Italy to reclaim Steven and Peter. While Ian confronted Cindy, claiming that he still loved her and was willing to forgive her, Phil and Grant abducted Steven and Peter. However, Cindy grew suspicious and alerted the authorities; despite a police chase, Ian succeeded in taking his children back to Walford with him. Cindy followed them with her new boyfriend, Nick Holland, and took Ian to court for custody of Steven, Peter and Lucy.

Cindy won full custody, but as she was about to collect her children from Ian's home, she was arrested by the police for attempted murder; Thorne had located Valecue, who was now in prison for an unrelated murder, and together with Ian's business partner Annie Palmer they blackmailed him into testifying against Cindy for Ian's shooting. Cindy's arrest opened Nick's eyes to the sort of woman she really was, and he abandoned her without hiring his solicitor to defend her. She was subsequently found guilty and sent to prison with a minimum conviction lasting 8 to 10 years.

On November 5th 1998, Ian was informed that Cindy had died giving birth to Nick's child. Her baby, a daughter, survived, who Ian named Cindy in her mother's honour; Cindy Snr's sister Gina Williams received custody over her niece.

2023

Twenty five years later in June 2023, Cindy is revealed to be alive all along - having faked her death and assumed the new identity of Rose Knight. This revelation comes just as Phil goes into business partnership with her ex-spouse George Knight, who was led to believe that Cindy - as his old wife Rose - had walked out on him along with their daughters Gina and Anna several years ago. However, Phil - who was also led to believe that Cindy had died back when she was still married to Ian - later tells George that Rose is alive and has been conning him from the start. George comes to accept this and shares his past with Rosie to his new fiancé Elaine Peacock and her daughter Linda Carter, the latter of whom had initially accused George of killing Rose and believing that he is a wrongun because of her newfound distrust in people ever since her husband Mick Carter had apparently died as a result of his relationship with local villain Janine Butcher.

On 21st June 2023, George decided to call Rose one last time to put his past to rest - only for his call to be rejected, revealing Rose to be Cindy. Cindy is revealed to have reunited with Ian and their son Peter, with the three now living together as a family in France. Cindy had accepted a plea bargain, avoiding a prison sentence and entering Witness Protection in exchange for testifying against her cellmate, Jackie Ford. However, things went wrong and Cindy was forced to fake her death in order to escape Jackie's criminal connections.

Cindy is visited by DI Mary Nicholls, her witness protection agent, who informs her that Jackie has died and that she is now free to resume her old life. When Ian suggests returning to Walford, Cindy objects, leading to an argument that culminates in Ian having a heart attack. Eventually, Cindy agrees to return to the Square, but after Ian sees a video sent by his son Bobby of George, who is now landlord of the Queen Vic, he changes his mind and tells Cindy that they should stay in France.

Meanwhile, Anna hires a private investigator to track down her mother, causing friction with Gina, who became a cocaine addict to cope with her mother's disappearance. The investigator returns with an active phone number; Anna calls it but is not answered, so she leaves a voicemail and text message. Peter discovers the message and text, learning that he has two half-sisters that he did not know about. Despite Ian deleting the voicemail and text message, Peter returns to Walford to meet Gina and Anna. Cindy follows him and visits Kathy, who is furious to discover that she is alive and has once again wormed her way back into Ian's life. Ian soon arrives in Walford to bring Cindy back to France, but is too late to stop her from bumping into George while he is hosting Anna's 21st birthday at the Vic. She reveals her true identity to George and explains that she compromised her life with him and their daughters in witness protection when she secretly returned to Walford in 2014, when Lucy was murdered; mistakenly believing that her daughter had been killed on Jackie's orders, Cindy chose not to return to Marbella out of fear of endangering her family. Against George's wishes, Cindy reunites with Anna and Gina, who are wary at seeing their mother again. Gina, unable to handle Cindy's reappearance, ends up relapsing into drug use during a night out and is hospitalised. George blames Cindy's return for Gina's relapse, while Cindy is horrified to discover her daughter's drug problem. As she contemplates her future in Walford, Cindy realises that Ian knew that her daughters were there, but she agrees to forgive his deceit if he helps her reconcile with them.

Trivia

• Cindy Beale was born on 10th May 1968.
• In a "Top Ten" TV episode called "Top 10 TV Bitches" that aired in 2001, Cindy Beale was ranked #6.
• She made a total of 572 appearances throughout her time on the show. This will be extended if she "returns from the dead" in 2023 due to the character being alleged for a possible return to the show.
  • Furthermore, Cindy Beale is the fourth character to have "returned from the dead"; first being Den Watts in 2003; then Nick Cotton in 2014; and then Kathy Beale in 2015 during the show's 30th anniversary special episode.
• Cindy was the first person to marry Ian Beale, who has now become EastEnders' longest-serving character to date; his other wives included Mel Healy in 1999, Laura Dunn in 2001, Jane Clark in 2006 before the pair remarried in 2015 again during the show's 30th anniversary special episode; and Sharon Watts in 2020.

External Links

• Cindy Beale on the Wikipedia