Roxy Mitchell (also Slater) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Rita Simons."The Mitchell Sisters", The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 May 2007. Roxy arrived in Walford with her older sister Ronnie (Samantha Womack) on 24 July 2007"Samantha Janus lands 'EastEnders' role", Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 May 2007. and decides to move permanently to Walford from Ibiza where they ran a bar together. Roxy is the younger of the two sisters. She is described as the "fire", as opposed to Ronnie's "ice". Simons took a temporary hiatus in 2016, with Roxy off screen from 1 January until 4 May 2016. Following the announcement that Womack would be leaving the series, Simons' departure was also announced. Roxy departed the series in scenes broadcast on 1 January 2017, when she drowned in a hotel swimming pool along with Ronnie. Simons returned in 2019 to record a voiceover as Roxy, which was broadcast on 3 May 2019. A younger version of Roxy, played by Elodie de Rohan Willner, appeared in a flashback episode broadcast on 5 September 2022, which focuses on the Mitchell family in the 1970s. Simons reprised her role on 27 April 2023 for a one-off appearance as a hallucination to her daughter, Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd).
During Roxy's time on the show she has been married twice — to Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky) and Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) — and engaged an additional three times — to Damian (James Hiller), Aleks Shirovs (Kristian Kiehling) and Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo). Her major storylines have included the paternity of her daughter Amy, becoming landlady of The Queen Victoria, becoming a millionaire before squandering all the money on frivolous spending, her popular friendship with Christian Clarke (John Partridge), a feud with Alfie's ex-wife Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), one-night stands with her sister's two husbands Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and Charlie Cotton (Declan Bennett), Dean's attempted rape of her, becoming a drugs mule, and drowning in a hotel swimming pool alongside Ronnie on New Years' Day 2017. The character has proved popular with viewers, with Simons winning the "Best Newcomer" award at the Digital Spy Soap Awards in 2008 for her role in the soap opera.
Creation Promotion Both Mitchell sisters were featured heavily in a BBC marketing campaign. Several promos aired on the BBC network in summer 2007. Using the slogan "The square, under new management", one promo depicted both sisters as party girls, dancing, serving tequila in The Queen Victoria public house (The Vic), shocking the older residents with their raunchy antics and squirting men with a soda siphon to the tune of "The Girls" by Calvin Harris. This scene was recreated for the sisters' final episode in 2017.
Two other trailers featured Ronnie and Roxy (Samantha Womack and Rita Simons) speaking individually. To the instrumental sound of "Little Green Bag" by George Baker (famously used in the Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs), each sister discussed their sibling, giving snippets of information on their personality and the dynamics of their relationship. Discussing Ronnie, Roxy said "My big sister Ronnie, she'd do anything to stop me getting hurt, including getting hurt herself. Boy she means business. We mean business. We're the Mitchell sisters after all... and you don't wanna find that out the hard way." Discussing Roxy, Ronnie said "Roxy will always be my kid sister. Fights, broken hearts, over the years we've had them all. She can be quite a handful, and she's definitely gonna stir things up around here. But remember, wherever Roxy Mitchell is... I'm right behind."
The promotion was received favourably by Leigh Holmwood, television journalist for The Guardian newspaper and MediaGuardian.co.uk. He commented, "now there's more to the long running BBC1 soap, apparently...Yes, it's the new sexed-up, soft focus, raunchy EastEnders trailer and it's hitting your TV screens now. In a bid to welcome the Mitchell sisters to Albert Square, the beeb have pulled out all the stops and come up with a very slick marketing campaign indeed." Referencing to the soap's reputation for being miserable and depressing, Holmwood said that the upbeat trailers were "about as un-EastEnders as you can get...Maybe the arrival of Roxy and Ronnie will herald a new golden age for the soap? Or maybe the BBC marketing department is just very good at putting a trailer together..."
In addition to the trailers, the BBC also planned a "glitzy" EastEnders BBC Radio 1 competition to promote the arrival on the Mitchell sisters, called "I love R&R" (Ronnie and Roxy). It ran from the end of June 2007, and included online promotion and video via the website iloverandr.com. The prize consisted of VIP tickets to a special party, which was to be attended by EastEnders actors and Radio 1 DJ Dave Pearce. Despite inviting the winners to attend, Radio 1 cancelled the event due to orders from BBC director general Mark Thompson, who called a halt to all BBC radio, TV and online competitions following a review of its programming, which uncovered scores of editorial breaches. Radio 1 reportedly decided to cancel the promotion as a "precautionary measure", though it is unknown whether the competition breached the BBC ban. Winners were instead told that they would be getting a tour of the EastEnders set, and the website was closed down on 26 July 2007.
Personality Simons has described Roxy's insecurities, commenting: "whatever insecurities she's got, she has a shag". and GMTV date = 6 August 2008 Describing how real life crisises clash with work and her social life
Development
Discussing the storyline which saw Roxy sleep with Ronnie's boyfriend, Jack Branning, Simons has said: "This is by far the worst Roxy has ever felt in her entire life. The guilt is absolutely killing her. I really hope the viewers sympathise with her Filming was hard and it got to the stage where she couldn't even look at Sam without crying. What she's done to Ronnie is so out of order, but if she could take it back, she would." Making it clear that what happened between Roxy and Jack was a one-off, she stated: "There's no lingering attraction between them [...] He makes Roxy's skin crawl." Simons also considered the outcome were Ronnie to find out about the betrayal, speculating: "One thing the Mitchells are good at is sweeping things under the carpet. And these girls have been through so much together. Perhaps in time, Ronnie could find it in her heart to forgive Roxy..." She mentioned the character's relationship with friend Christian Clarke, assessing that Roxy would be "really lost without him. He's her rock".
With the introduction of Roxy and Ronnie's mother, Glenda Mitchell (Glynis Barber) in 2010, Simons stated that Roxy had Archie's genes while Ronnie had Glenda's. Before Glenda's introduction, Archie is murdered by an unseen person, and Simons stated that she did not think Roxy was the killer, but said that in the last few days of Archie's life, she saw what he was really like, though she believed that Roxy would still forgive Archie regardless.
In December 2010, Simons stated she hoped that Roxy would have a new romance, saying "She's supposed to be the slapper of the Square—but hardly. Okay, she slept with Jack Branning once, was married to Sean and had a thing with Dr Al for about five minutes. But she hasn't had a bit of stuff for ages, so I think she's due some romance. Not that there's anyone on the Square she fancies. [...] She wants nothing more than a ring on her finger and to settle down, but she's a loose cannon, so I don't think she's going to get that anytime soon."
Discussing Roxy's friendship with Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), Simons told Soaplife that although Roxy flirts with Alfie, she would not steal him from his wife Kat (Jessie Wallace). Roxy is the only person to ask Alfie how he feels after the death of his son Tommy Moon, which Simons said showed how close Roxy and Alfie have become as friends. The actress commented, "She cares about Alfie and can see that a lot of what he's feeling is hidden behind his sparky exterior. She's a bit like that too."
In 2011, Roxy agrees to become a surrogate mother for Christian and his boyfriend Syed Masood. Simons explained that although Roxy would do anything for Christian out of love for him, she probably agrees for selfish reasons as well, as she is a single mother and wants what her friends have. She expressed a wish for Roxy to grow up and be less moody. Simons also said she wanted Roxy to be successful in a forthcoming revenge storyline following Roxy's discovery that Phil and Shirley stole her money, telling Soaplife magazine, "[The plan is] to steal back the money [Phil] stole from her. Glenda's in on it with Roxy and they plan to rob the club for what's rightfully Roxy's."
In April 2011, Roxy discovers that Ronnie swapped her dead baby, James, with Kat Moon's healthy son, Tommy. Speaking to Digital Spy, Simons discussed Roxy and Ronnie's relationship and how Ronnie's crime affects them. She stated that Roxy is loyal to Ronnie, despite Ronnie's mistakes, and would stand by her, but has conflicting feels as she finds it hard to come to terms with what Ronnie did. She called Roxy "quite a moral person", but her loyalty to her sister would most likely win. She said it is hard on their relationship, comparing it to when Roxy discovered that Ronnie was raped by their father as a child. Roxy tries to help release Ronnie from prison, and Simons said the storyline marks a transition for Roxy as she starts to grow up and stand on her own feet with Ronnie out of her every-day life.
Relationship with Alfie Moon
In March 2012, Roxy realises that she is in love with Alfie Moon (Shane Richie). Alfie and Roxy share a strong friendship and Roxy starts to see him as her "ideal man". After a confrontation with Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell), Roxy goes to see Alfie and they have a heart-to-heart which leads Alfie to hug Roxy, making her realise that she is in love with him. Richie admitted that he did not want Alfie to cheat on Kat with Roxy. Alfie was tipped to face temptation as the storyline developed. Speaking to an Inside Soap writer, Richie commented "As far as Alfie's concerned, he's a happily married man. He can see that Roxy is flirting with him, but he just thinks she's being friendly. They've got a great friendship and enjoy some good banter together, but Alfie banters with half of Albert Square."
The following month, it was revealed that Roxy would confess her feelings to Alfie. Simons stated that she did not want Roxy and Alfie to have an affair, saying "Roxy knows it can't happen, but she can't help being in love with him. She leaves The Vic and says she just can't work there any longer. She just decides she has to leave because he goes on and on about Kat. It's too much for her." Simons added that she wanted the storyline to be "slow-burning". Simons later admitted that she does not know whether she will be sharing an on-screen kiss with Richie. Speaking to Press Association, Simons commented "It's been lovely to work with Shane, he's a great actor. We haven't had a kissing scene yet, I don't know if we will. He's a very generous actor." Roxy later daces more heartbreak when her friend Christian Clarke (John Partridge) says that Alfie does not love her, leading to Roxy denying this saying that there is definitely something between them.