Whitney Dean

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Hero Overview Gallery

Do-gooder
Full Name	Whitney Dean
Alias(es)	Whit
Origin	EastEnders
Occupation	Resident of Albert Square
Powers / Skills	Hand-to-hand combat Intelligence Charisma Driving exceptionality
Hobby	Socializing with other residents in Albert Square
Goals	Overcome her first ordeal of being sexually abused as a teenager by Tony King (succeeded) Overcome her second ordeal of being grooming into sexual exploitation by Rob Grayson (succeeded) Settle a happy marriage with her husband Lee Carer (failed) Keep her romantic affections for Lee's father Mick Carter a secret (failed) Marry Callum Highway and prevent his lover Ben Mitchell from ruining their marriage (succeeded at first; later failed) Avoid going to prison for killing Tony's son Leo King in self-defense (succeeded) Expose Gray Atkins as a wife-beater and serial killer before bringing him to justice for his crimes (succeeded) Settle a happy relationship with Zack Hudson (ongoing)
Family	Bianca Jackson (adopted mother and legal guardian) Ryan Malloy (half-brother)
Friends / Allies	Lee Carter Mick Carter Callum Highway Kat Slater Stacey Slater Zack Hudson
Enemies	Tony King (abuser; deceased) Rob Grayson (deceased) Leo King (deceased) Gray Atkins
Type of Hero	Tragic Victim

Whitney Dean is a fictional character and central protagonist of the BBC British soap opera EastEnders. She debuted on 1st April 2008 and ended up becoming one of the show's central protagonists from then onwards.

The character is portrayed by Shona McGarty.

Biography

Whitney Dean first came to Albert Square in Walford, a fictional borough in East London, in April 2008 as a new member of the established Jackson Family. It turned out that she is the adopted daughter of local resident Bianca Jackson, thus acting as a surrogate sibling to Bianca's daughter Tiffany along with her younger brothers Liam and Morgan respectively. Upon moving in the square, Whitney bonds with Bianca's former husband Ricky Butcher and their maternal figure Pat Butcher.

In September 2008, Whitney is seemingly happy when Bianca is reunited with her new fiance Tony King on his welcome home party. When Tony later visits Whitney in her bedroom, however, it turns out that they are currently in a relationship behind Bianca's back and that the duo are planning to leave the square on Whitney's sixteenth-birthday in December 2008. In the build-up to Whitney's sixteenth-birthday, it steadily becomes clear that Tony is a paedophile who has been sexually abusing Whitney for three years. Whitney eventually tells Bianca the truth about her 'relationship' with Tony, which in turn causes Bianca to report Tony to the police and for everyone to learn the truth about Whitney's ordeal. At first Whitney refuses to acknowledge that Tony is a paedophile who has been sexually abusing her for years, but she finally realizes the truth and stands up to Tony when testifying against him in trial a year later; Tony is found guilty and sentenced to prison for 13 years.

Soon enough, Whitney gets reacquainted with her half-brother Ryan Malloy and initially befriends his wife Janine until she discovers her true nature. It is then Whitney encounters a man named Rob Grayson and the pair start dating. Whitney, not knowing that Rob is actually a pimp, starts to turn against her family and friends as her relationship with Rob continues to develop over the weeks. Whitney eventually finds out about Rob's true nature when he attempts to get her pimped in his sexual exploitation gang, but she escapes and reports him to the police. Whitney then goes into hiding in Southend, but Rob catches up with her and attempts to kidnap her until Ryan rushes to the rescue - accidentally killing Rob in the process. Ryan bids Whitney farewell when he is forced to go on the run for Rob's murder.

In 2013, Whitney is shocked to learn that Tony has committed suicide and initially feels guilty about it. But then she has a heart-to-heart with Bianca's close friend Kat Slater, who shares a similar story about how she herself was raped by her uncle Harry Slater as a child. As a result, Whitney overcomes her ordeal with Tony at long last. She then proceeds to marry Lee Carter in one of her aspects of moving forward, but this ends in disaster when she has a fling with his father Mick Carter before their secret is discovered by his family.

In 2019, Whitney is ready to marry her second husband Callum Highway but is left devastated to learn about his relationship with love rival Ben Mitchell - even more so when Callum chooses Ben over Whitney despite remaining friends with her. Thereafter Whitney begins dating a new love interest named Leo, but is horrified to later discover that he is actually Tony's son. Leo then begins stalking Whitney as revenge and later attacks her with a knife, but she defends her and ends up killing Leo in self-defense. When she is released from police custody without charge months later, Whitney is kidnapped by Leo's vengeful mother Michaela Turnbull when she seeks to avenge her son's death. But in the end Whitney escapes and rebukes Michaela upon learning that she knew about her ordeal with Tony all along.

In 2020, Whitney starts a romance with laywer Gray Atkins after he exonerates her for Leo's murder. This carries on for a year until Whitney develops a crush on fellow neighbour Kush Kazini. The couple soon prepare to leave the square after he testifies against Ben and his father Phil Mitchell for his involvement in their criminal activities, but Whitney is left devastated when Kush gets killed in a train accident. Whitney blames the Mitchells for Kush's death and holds a grudge against them, but is left unaware that Kush was actually murdered by Gray due to the latter's obsession with Whitney. She eventually learns the truth after discovering that Gray had abused and killed his long-suffering wife Chantelle before later killing Mick's aunt Tina Carter for discovering his secret. Whitney helps stop Gray from escaping police custody or killing his new wife Chelsea Fox, thus becoming a hero when Gray is arrested for his crimes.

In 2023, Whitney has begun a relationship with gym owner Zack Hudson and they are currently seeking to have children after she becomes pregnant.

Trivia

• Whitney Dean is the first mainstream soap character to represent a child sexual abuse storyline.
  • As such, the storyline of Whitney and Tony was researched and developed with advice and approval from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The inappropriate nature of Whitney's relationship with Tony resulted in over 200 complaints being made to the BBC and television regulatory body Ofcom by members of the public, and "one of the darkest and most disturbing storylines EastEnders has ever attempted" by the Daily Mirror's Beth Neil. The NSPCC however have praised the storyline for "helping to raise awareness of the hidden nature of sexual abuse". The storyline also gained EastEnders a Royal Television Society Programme Award in March 2009 in the Soap and Continuing Drama category.
• Shona McGarty (the actress who plays Whitney Dean) had recieved nominations and winning awards for her contribution to both the character's performance and her many high-prolific storylines such as the child sexual abuse scenario.
• On 1 June 2018, McGarty filmed her 1,000th episode as Whitney.