Ian Beale just can’t get it right with the ladies.
Walford’s esteemed businessman has been through the wringer during a series of failed relationships.
Despite owning the chip shop, a restaurant, a fruit and veg stall and now even The Queen Vic, Ian had been unable to hold down a partner.
The wannabe lothario is the most-married character in the history of EastEnders – having been married a staggering six times to five different women.
Adam Woodyatt’s character finally looked to have found the one in Sharon, although we then discovered she only married Ian so she could kill him.
Here is a look back at Ian’s disastrous relationship history.
Cindy Williams
Things looked to be going well for Ian when he got married to Cindy in 1989.
But his world came tumbling down when he discovered that Cindy had cheated on him with Simon Wicks while they were engaged.
Not only that, but it was revealed to devastated Ian that baby Steven was not his biological child and he attempted suicide.
After they briefly split, Ian and Cindy managed to sort out their differences and they went on to have twins Peter and Lucy.
However, Ian became obsessed with his business empire, leaving neglected Cindy to leave her husband for his half-brother David Wicks.
Having lost custody of the kids, vengeful Cindy hired a hitman to murder him, but the bullet only clipped him and he survived.
Cindy stole Steven and Peter and fled to Italy for a year, but Ian eventually tracked her down and brought the boys back home with the help of the Mitchell brothers.
This time there was no reconciliation as Cindy was sent to prison for the shooting and died while giving birth to Cindy Junior.
Mel Healy
Mel Healy (Tamzin Outhwaite) was the next woman that Ian fell in love with.
And it seemed he had found the woman of his dreams when she proposed to him.
But life isn’t that simple for Ian, as Mel cheated on him with her future husband Steve Owen.
Suspecting that Mel was going to leave him for another man, twisted Ian created a cancer lie and pretended that Lucy was dying.
Mel started to get cold feet but didn’t want to leave Ian in his darkest hour.
They got married in view of the Millenium Dome on New Year’s Eve 1999, but Mel discovered her new husband had disgustingly lied about Lucy’s condition during their wedding reception.
As the residents of Albert Square celebrated the new Millenium at midnight, Ian burst into tears as furious Mel ended their marriage after just hours.
Mel went on to marry Steve Owen, who tragically died in a fire ball, then left Albert Square.
She returned at the end of 2017 with son Hunter, but he was shot dead by police after holding everyone hostage in the Queen Vic and then grieving Mel stepped out in front of a lorry.
Laura Dunn
Next was the classic story of a father falling in love with his children’s nanny.
Ian began having a romance with Laura (Hannah Waterman), but only decided to fully commit to her when his business venture failed and he was declared bankrupt.
Laura feared he was only after her inheritance but she bought back his fish and chip shop and they finally tied the knot at Walford Registry Office in 2001.
Their happiness wasn’t to last as Ian tried to kiss Mel and their marriage started to deteriorate.
Ian refused to give Laura the one thing she always wanted, a child of her own, then he was caught having sordid sex sessions with prostitute Janine Butcher.
It was Simon’s step son Steven that exposed his seedy activities – and Laura only agreed to forgive him if they had a child together.
Ian agreed but secretly went to have a vasectomy so that he couldn’t have any more kids.
When Laura got pregnant, Ian realised she must have cheated on him and after conning her out of the business threw her out.
There was a twist as Bobby was actually revealed to be Ian’s son, rather than Garry Hobbs, and she sadly died in 2004 by breaking her neck while falling down the stairs.
Jane Collins
Jane (Laurie Brett) was the only woman brave enough to walk down the aisle with Ian on two occasions.
They didn’t have the easiest of starts as Jane was still married to David Collins, who suffered from Huntington’s Disease and lived in a hospice, when they first met before his death.
Their relationship nearly ended when Jane had an affair with Grant Mitchell – and vengeful Ian planned to expose her during a big wedding day.
However, he forgave Jane and they had a secret ceremony in July 2007.
Their marriage was rocked when Jane was shot by Steven during an altercation and needed a hysterectomy.
(Image: BBC)
They temporarily separated when Ian refused to adopt a child, then Jane wanted to raise Lucy’s baby as her own.
Jane and Ian agreed but he secretly helped his daughter get an abortion and claimed it was a miscarriage.
Devastated Jane discovered the truth and left Ian, but they got back together when he arranged for her to adopt Bobby.
But Ian’s affair with Glenda Mitchell was too much for Jane, who divorced Ian then left Walford in May 2011.
Mandy Salter
With no women left in his life, Ian decided to head to a strip club in 2011.
But he got a shock when he saw old acquaintance Mandy Salter (Nicola Stapleton) being thrown out and let her move into the Beale house.
Not learning from his mistakes, Ian rushed into another relationship and proposed to Mandy.
It was all too good to be true as the arrival of Ian’s daughter Lucy caused problems for the couple.
Ian’s fiancee and daughter clashed, Mandy’s abusive mother Lorraine interfered and she then cheated on him with Ricky Butcher.
Insecure Ian wasn’t put off and tried to move their wedding forward, even kicking Lucy out of the house so he could be with Mandy.
But she realised she didn’t love Ian and left him in 2012, leading Ian to suffer from a nervous breakdown and live homeless for months.
Denise Fox
(Image: BBC/Matt Frost)
Having got his old life back, Ian started a friendly rivalry with Denise (Diane Parish) that soon turned into a steamy relationship.
It was actually Kim who tried to set the pair set up, but Denise was not pleased and ended up kissing Kim’s boyfriend Ray Dixon.
With nowhere else to turn after being disowned by her sister, Denise went to stay at Ian’s house and they fell in love.
They got into problems when Ian realised he didn’t have enough money to open his restaurant, so stole from Derek Branning and planned to lie in court after being blackmailed by Carl White.
Denise was furious when she found out about the shady goings on but stood by her man.
Ian was about to propose to Denise in January 2014 until his former wife Jane arrived back in Walford.
Jane Collins (again)
(Image: Shared Content Unit)
Jane was a glutton for punishment and fell in love with Ian once again.
They got married for the second time in 2015 in the restaurant, but tragedy hit the family again when Lucy was killed by Bobby.
Jane helped cover up the murder to protect Bobby – with the couple taking the killer on their honeymoon to get him out of Walford.
It finally seemed Jane would get her baby when Ian and Jane agreed to adopt Cindy’s baby Beth, but she couldn’t be in the same house together and she went to live with her father’s family.
Bobby became increasingly violent and nearly beat Jane to death with a hockey stick – then confessed to killing Lucy.
Having discovered that they nearly sent him down for Lucy’s murder, Max blackmails Jane into leaving Walford alone.
Sharon Mitchell
(Image: BBC)
In one of the strangest moments in EastEnders history, Sharon bizarrely agreed to be Ian’s wife in December last year.
Having already turned him down in humiliating circumstances, leading to the best friends becoming enemies, they tied the knot in hospital.
Sharon made a massive U-turn while Ian was on his deathbed after being attacked and finally agreed to become his wife.
They were married by a vicar in his hospital, much to the amazement of Ian’s furious mum Kathy.
It seemed like Ian had finally found the one after all these years…but Ian’s new bride is seemingly going to be responsible for his death.
(Image: BBC)
On Christmas Day it was revealed to viewers that Sharon was responsible for the attack on Ian after discovering that he played a part in Denny’s death by locking him in a room in the sinking boat.
Sharon got ex Phil Mitchell to batter Ian and wanted him to finish the job, but when he refused she decided to get her own hands dirty.
She fed Ian a Christmas pudding covered in brandy, cream, oh and some crushed up drugs to poison him.
Ian somehow managed to survive once again, but with Sharon set on revenge it seems like he doesn’t have long to live.
*EastEnders airs tonight on BBC One at 8.05pm
Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/adam-woodyatts-screen-love-life-23261006