Where EastEnders’ Miller family are now – pub, double bankruptcy and dating each other

Albert Square didn’t know what was about to hit them when the Miller family rocked up in 2004.

After a year of Joe Swash delighting audiences in the role of wheeler-dealer Mickey, EastEnders bosses decided it was time to bring in his family.

The Millers consisted of Mickey’s mum Rosie, stepdad Keith, half-brother Darren and half-sister Demi, who amazingly was played by Joe’s real-life sister Shana Swash, along with mangy dog Ghengis.

The chaotic family were described a “troublemakers” and were brought in to “drum up conflict with existing characters”, which is exactly what happened as they got into fights with the Slaters and Fowlers.

The Miller clan was completed the following year when Mickey’s elder sister Dawn Swann, played by Kara Tointon, was introduced during a special week of episodes set in France.

Eventually the popular family was broken apart, with Rosie and Demi being written out in 2006, followed by Mickey and Keith two years later.

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There was anger towards the axings, with Joe lashing out at the decision, although it worked out well in the end as the actor has become a national treasure.

Away from the cameras, as stated above there were two real-life siblings in the family and a pair actually started dating.

Some of them stayed in acting, while others went on to have very different careers and one now runs a business at a London gastropub.

None of the Miller clan remain on the soap anymore, but Joe has recently claimed he wants to get back into acting and has “unfinished business” with his character.

Here is a look at what happened next for the Miller family.

Joe Swash – Mickey Miller

Joe Swash was about to give up on acting just before he landed the role of Mickey Miller, having originally auditioned to be Spencer Moon, back in 2003.

His character was only supposed to last for six episodes but he was so well-liked by viewers that Joe got a permanent job on the soap.

The following year they decided to bring the rest of Mickey’s family in – with sibling Demi being played by Joe’s real-life sister Shan and his own son Harry appearing as his baby niece.

Almost as soon as he was cast in EastEnders, Joe’s partying started to spiral out of control and he was told to calm down by EastEnders’ chiefs because he was “lad about town” and even earned himself the nickname Swashbuckler.

Then in 2005, Joe was left fighting for his life when he was struck down with a devastating brain bug – with his family told to prepare for the worst.

Doctors discovered he had meningitis and encephalitis, swelling of the brain, which meant he had to spend six weeks in hospital and take three months of unpaid leave from EastEnders while he underwent gruelling physio to help him learn to talk and move again.

In 2008, EastEnders bosses left Joe stunned when they decided to axe him because they had “run out of steam” for his character.

But the actor was convince his illness played a part, telling The Sun: “My illness had a massive impact on the job. When I came back I couldn’t find my feet.

“New producers came in and brought in new actors and I got lost down the pecking order.”

Angry Joe lashed out at the decision and claimed his character had become little more than “light-relief” – but he briefly returned for two episodes in September 2011 for on-screen brother Darren’s wedding.

Months after being axed from the soap, he started dating on-screen sister Kara Tointon and claimed he was “punching well above” his weight.

But the relationship broke down in 2010, with Joe saying: “She genuinely does everything right. It was my fault it broke down. I didn’t know what I had until she was gone.”

Joe won I’m A Celebrity in 2008 but a few months later he was forced to declare himself bankrupt.

He explained: “I fell behind on tax and bills and buried my head in the sand, which was the worst thing to do. I should have faced up to it.”

Joe went on to be co-host of spin-off series Get Me Out of Here, NOW! from 2009 onwards, but devastatingly he was bankrupt again four years later.

“I was chucking it away on stuff I didn’t need. I went out every night and had a house with a mortgage,” he said.

“When you are young you just don’t think it is ever going to end. I thought I was going to be on EastEnders for years and years.”

Now Joe is engaged to Loose Women favourite Stacey Solomon, who are proud parents to their baby son, Rex, and are expecting their second baby together.

They also live with Stacey’s sons, Leighton and Zachary, while Joe has his son, Harry, from a previous relationship.

It seems Joe still hasn’t got over his EastEnders exit as Stacey revealed he was disappointed over his lacklustre final scenes back in 2017.

She explained: “When I speak to Joe about his exit in EastEnders he’s always devastated he never got a ‘doof doof’.”

Shana Swash – Demi Miller

There were two Swashes in the Miller family as Joe was joined by his younger sister Shana.

A year after her brother first started on the soap, Shana joined the cast as pregnant 13-year-old Demi.

She actually beat Lacey Turner to the role, but obviously she did get onto EastEnders in the end in the role of Stacey Slater.

Demi gave birth to baby Aleesha with the help of Pauline Fowler, but then ran away from home with her child’s dad Leo as a war escalated between their two families.

They ended up living in a squat during a dark storyline which ended with them getting hook on heroine and Leo dying from an overdose.

When it was announced Demi was being axed from the soap, furious fans started an online petition but Shana’s final scenes aired in July 2006.

Shana had stage roles and appeared in an episode of Doctors in 2018, but the actress decided to go in a new direction and started running a restaurant out of a north London gastropub with her carpenter husband Nick Jones.

EastEnders fans were in meltdown at the start of last year when Shana came to watch her brother skating on the rink during a training session.

Joe could be heard teasing his younger sister as he asked her why she decided to bring her skates to his training session.

She cheekily replied to her brother, saying: “Because I feel like I’m better than you!”

Joe recently have an update on his sister’s new business venture as Shana launched her own coffee vendor with partner Nick.

“My sister is opening up her very first Swash and Jones coffee stall, look at this,” Joe proudly stated in a video on his Instagram story.

“Super proud of my little sister and her partner,” he wrote across a picture of him beaming in front of Shana’s coffee stall.

Kara Tointon – Dawn Swann

Described as a “tart with a heart”, Dawn Swann was Mickey’s half-sister who was living with their biological dad Mike in France.

Dawn left the continent to come and live in Albert Square, with actress Kara Tointon admitting she was a big fan of her character’s wardrobe.

“I love playing Dawn. She’s so flirty and confident — nothing fazes her and she knows how to flutter her eyelashes and make the men do whatever she wants,” she told The Mirror in 2005.

Kara confessed she had based her character on Katie Price and would often consider how the reality TV star would react to situations when reading her scripts.

In one of EastEnders’ most controversial storylines ever, Dawn fell pregnant with a married man’s baby and his wife, Dr May Wright, tried to give her a forced C-section before blowing up the house.

Bosses decided not to renew her contract and Kara was axed from the show in March 2009 as Dawn went off on a canal boat with Gary Hobbs and daughter Summer.

“I was heartbroken when they told me and I have to admit I did cry,” said Kara.

“I just have to dust myself down and get back out there. I’ve already told them that if they do plan to kill Dawn, I will refuse to close my eyes in the dying scenes.”

Kara actually dated two of her EastEnders co-stars, including on-screen brother Joe.

First she started seeing Martin Fowler actor James Alexandrou in April 2006, but the pair decided to call off their 18-month relationship in November 2011.

They realised they had drifted apart after his EastEnders exit and were said to be spending far less time together while Kara’s commitments on the show grew bigger with more intense storylines.

Then love blossomed between Kara and Joe before he flew to Australia to take part in I’m a Celebrity in November 2008 and she even revealed she had marriage on her mind and hoped to start a family with the actor.

But the cracks reportedly started to show when the couple starred in Snow White at Bristol’s Hippodrome in 2009.

Sources claimed the pair were having epic rows behind the scenes of the panto, prompting Kara to issue a denial, insisting: “We’re very happy together, everything’s going really well, but you’ll have to ask him when we’re getting married.”

However, in May 2010 the devastated actress pulled the plug and apparently fled to Marbella with friends to ‘get her head together’ and they eventually split.

While Kara has never dished the dirt, Joe admitted he was to blame and it had “nothing to do” with his former co-star.

Joe was left kicking himself over losing Kara and was forced to watch on as she fell for handsome hunk Artem Chigvintsev on Strictly Come Dancing later that year.

Kara and Artem won the show together and went on to date for four years before splitting in 2014.

The actress appeared in Mr Selfridge and played Maria in The Sound of Music Live in 2016.

In November 2008, Kara gave birth to her first child, son Frey, with fiancé Marius Jensen and they had their second son, Helly, at the start of the year.

David Spinx – Keith Miller

David had already appeared in EastEnders before being cast as sofa-bound layabout Keith.

He was Steve Owen’s prison cellmate Sharkey in an episode in 1999 and did the voices on the radios for Barry Evans’ cab firm.

From 2004 to 2008 he played lazy Keith, who was unemployed and spent his days on the couch watching TV documentaries.

Keith briefly moved in with Gary and Minty after Rosie cheated on him with her ex, but then they got back together when he proposed.

He clearly didn’t want to marry and kept trying to delay the wedding, which he turned up to with his suit covered in mud and was jilted at the alter and Rosie left the Square.

Keith was the one who saved step daughter Dawn from their burning house and he eventually decided to join the rest of the Millers in the Cotswolds.

David was axed at the same time as Joe because the writers didn’t think they could go any further with their characters.

After leaving EastEnders, David has appeared on Come Dine With Me, Casualty and indie movie South of the River.

He has also taken up painting and posts some of his masterpieces on Twitter.

Charlie G Hawkins – Darren Miller

Darren was the last Miller standing in the end – lasting for seven years on EastEnders.

Actor Charlie G Hawkins joined the soap in 2004 and described his character, who is Demi’s twin, as “a bit of a rough kid”.

The actor said: “He’s a great character to play. There are resemblances of myself in there, although that’s a matter of opinion. It’s good to play someone like that, where you can have a laugh.”

Darren’s most dramatic story was the ‘whodunnit’ over Heather Trott’s baby – with Darren surprisingly being revealed as George’s father while he was with girlfriend Libby Fox.

In April 2011, Charlie stunned producers when he announced he wanted to move on – and has admitted it was one of the toughest decisions of his life.

He told the Mirror he could “barely remember life before EastEnders” and said he was leaving so he could “chill out and enjoy being a normal 20-year-old”.

Charlie added: “I’ve enjoyed my time at EastEnders immensely, it’s been a terrific chapter in my life and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve had tremendous support throughout my duration on the show and I would like to thank Bryan and the whole team for believing in me.”

Since then, he has appeared in Casualty, wrote an episode of Eastenders spin-off E20 and co-hosted American football podcast Ice The Kicker with pal Tom Deacon.

Gerry Cowper – Rosie Miller

Gerry was already famous before she joined EastEnders, having played Rowan Morrison in 1973 horror movie The Wicker Man and Jim Hacker’s daughter in Yes Minister.

As well as starring in The Bill and Only Fools and Horses, she had already had a small role in the soap in April 2002 as Lindsay, the mother of a schizophrenic called Matt.

The actress was cast as Mickey’s hardworking mum Rosie, who was very protective of her chaotic family and regularly got into rows with Pauline Fowler.

Rosie ended up having an affair with her ex Mike, Mickey and Dawn’s dad, then got back with Keith and planned to get married.

However, Keith turned up late to the ceremony with mud on his suit so Rosie jilted him and moved away with Demi and Aleesha to the Cotswolds.

Since she was axed from the soap in 2006, Gerry has been seen in ITV drama Law & Order: UK in 2014.

Genghis the dog

Irish Wolfhound Genghis was the Miller family’s mangey mutt who caused them even more trouble.

The scraggy old dog once devoured Peggy Mitchell’s buffet and Ruby Allen actress Louisa Lytton confessed she never dared go near the dog on set.

Genghis was branded “Walford’s biggest and dosiest character” and “as strangely loveable as the rest of his family”.

There was some controversy amongst the Irish Wolfhound community as some keen enthusiasts complained that the pet pooch was totally unsuited to city living in Albert Square.

Because the dog was never credited no one knows his real name, but he left with Mickey and Keith in 2008.

*EastEnders airs tonight on BBC One at 9.05pm

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Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/eastenders-miller-family-now-pub-24703714