Who is Lisa Fowler in EastEnders and who was she married to?

ALBERT Square welcomed one of its former icons after more than three years of absence.

Lisa Fowler returned to EastEnders reopening old wounds. Here's what you need to know about her.

Who is Lisa Fowler in EastEnders?

Actress Lucy Benjamin reprised her role in the BBC One soap on Monday, July 10, 2023.

She'd been last seen in a taxi, fleeing Walford with Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden) and their daughter Louise (Tilly Keeper) after Keanu Taylor's supposed death - which turned out to be fake.

The Mitchell clan were terrified they could be arrested for conspiracy to murder after Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) enlisted the help of Martin Fowler (James Bye) to murder Keanu.

Regular viewers of the London-based program will remember that Martin and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) helped Keanu get away, making everybody believe he was dead.

As hinted at above, Lisa Fowler is one of Phil Mitchell's many former flames and the mother of his daughter Louise.

She was first introduced to fans as Lisa Shaw in December, 1998, as a trainee market inspector.

Lisa has been unlucky in love since her EastEnders debut as she first fell for her boss, Michael Rose, whom she'd been clashing with because of her poor time-keeping.

The pair began an affair but a guilty Lisa demanded that Michael chose between her and his wife Susan.

Michael chose Lisa without telling Susan and she threatened to expose the truth.

To escape the breakdown of his marriage, Michael fled Walford with Susan in February, 1999, leaving Lisa alone and heartbroken.

But her romance with Phil was no walk in the park as the tough man managed to get in her head and mentally abuse her.

At the time, Lisa had just made friends with Mel Owen and moved in with Mark Fowler - who secretly harboured feelings for her.

Lisa was oblivious to Mark's feelings and had a fling with Gianni di Marco before eventually falling for Phil, which resulted in her pregnancy.

Phil initially asked her to have an abortion but came round to the idea and asked her to move in with him.

Unfortunately, Lisa miscarried the baby, putting the blame on Phil.

After losing her job, Lisa becomes financially dependent on Phil and with her confidence at an all-time low due to his behaviour, she becomes jealous of his ex-wife Kathy Beale and their son Ben, hiding letters and a video from them.

Phil gets his revenge by bedding Lisa's pal Mel following a fight on Christmas Day.

Mel ends up doing the right thing and tells Lisa what happened, prompting her to call it quits with Phil, despite her intention to get pregnant again.

Lisa's relationship with Phil Mitchell lasted three years, from 1999 to 2002 and she moved back with Mark Fowler following their breakup.

She was soon hit with a bombshell - Lisa found out she was pregnant a second time.

Who was Lisa Fowler married to in EastEnders?

Lisa eventually realised Mark Fowler could be a good match for her and the pair went on to tie the knot in an attempt to keep Phil away from the baby.

Both of them also claimed that Mark was the baby's father and everybody in the Square believed them.

Slowly but surely, their romance became strong and real with Lisa giving birth to her daughter Louise in November, 2001.

But when Sharon Watts learned Phil really is the father of baby Louise, she pushed Lisa to include him in the tot's life.

Mark was left heartbroken when Lisa intended to reconcile with Phil who, unbeknownst to her, only had eyes for Louise and used her to get more access to his daughter.

After five months of marriage, Lisa left Mark to resume her affair with Phil.

A heartbroken Mark confronted Phil and almost raped Lisa as a result.

Horrified by his own actions, Mark left Walford, leaving Lisa to realise her mistake and wish to reconcile with Mark.

Mark returned to the Square on Christmas 2002 but with his health taking a drastic turn due to AIDS, he remained focused on making the most of his last moments.

In January 2003, he found out his fate was sealed as his body rejected the medication used to prolong his life and slow down the onset of AIDS.

He made a tearful farewell to his loves ones and rode off on his motorbike a month later.

His brother Martin received a phone call in April, 2004, from his nurse who informed him Mark died from an AIDS-related form of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Lisa, on the other hand, had found refuge in Portugal and made several returns to the Square as Phil fought to be in Louise's life.

EastEnders airs from Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.