Lily Slater

Lily Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and is played by Lillia Turner. Lily's first appearance in the serial is in episode 4023, originally broadcast on 23 June 2010, in which her birth is depicted. Lily is the daughter of Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott). Stacey and Lily both departed on 25 December 2010 at the conclusion of the "Who Killed Archie?" storyline. On 6 December 2013, it was announced that Lacey Turner would return to the soap to reprise her role as Stacey, and would begin filming in January 2014 – thus meaning Lily would be re-introduced into the serial. Lily temporarily departed the serial on 2 August 2019 once again after Stacey attacks Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) in a panic to save Martin Fowler (James Bye). Lily along with her family returns in episode 6133, originally broadcast on 21 September 2020, two weeks after the soap's return to transmission – this time with Turner in the role. Lily's most high-profile storyline was in 2023 when she became pregnant at just 12 years old after sleeping with her close friend and neighbour, Ricky Branning (Frankie Day). She gave birth in the episode broadcast on 5 September 2023 to their daughter, Charli Slater. On 22 May 2025, Lily temporarily departed the show, due to Turner's real life GCSE commitments. She returned on 25 August 2025.

In her 2010 stint, Lily was played by three child actors: Alfie Duncan, Poppy Crake and Kennady Lacy-Breckenridge. Lacey Turner left the series in late 2010 and Lily was written out of the show, making her departure on 25 December 2010. When Turner decided to return to EastEnders in 2014, producers decided to reintroduce Lily. She returned permanently on 7 February 2014. Aine Garvey took over the role and portrayed the character until 2019. Lily was absent on-screen from August 2019 to September 2020, as part of Turner's maternity leave. The character of Lily returned with the role having been recast to Lillia Turner, who had previously appeared in EastEnders in 2019 as Bailey Baker's (Kara-Leah Fernandes) friend Alyssa. Lily started appearing on a more regular basis from this point on, and was given a teenage pregnancy storyline.

In the 2023 new years episode celebrations, it was revealed the character was pregnant and is going to be put at the forefront of an issue-led teenage pregnancy storyline devised to spread awareness on the rising issue. The storyline was not announced beforehand – which led to viewers only learning of the storyline in the episode. The storyline also faced critical acclaim for the storyline as Lily was only 12 when she first learned of her pregnancy. The father was not initially revealed until the episode broadcast on 4 January 2023 when Stacey confronts Lily. Lily reveals the father as Ricky Mitchell (Frankie Day). This prompted writers to re-introduce Lily's biological father Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott) into the serial and he returned on screen on 13 February 2023. Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) calls Ryan when she hears the news of Lily's pregnancy. Ryan's plan was to obtain Lily and return to Wakefield with her as he believed him and his off-screen wife Helen would be able to give Lily a better life then Stacey would. When Stacey learns of Ryan's plans, a heated confrontation is heard by Lily and Lily demands Ryan out of the house. Due to the rejection from his daughter, Ryan then makes the Slaters' financial situation worse by cutting Stacey's child support to the minimum; once again departing on 16 February. Lily decides to have a gender reveal party. The party ends up in disaster when the cake that was supposed to reveal the gender was green rather than pink. She later announces to Stacey she is having a girl, much to Stacey's excitement. The scenes faced backlash. Much speculation was thrown into the storyline and it was heavily presumed Lily would let her on-screen aunt Whitney raise her child instead: this turned out later to be untrue as McGarty was exiting the soap opera in 2024. Viewers also noted a strong resemblance between Lily and on-screen family member Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) who also had her own experience in teenage pregnancy – Kat also guides Lily along her pregnancy as the family are also suffering with the cost of living crisis. Stacey later begins an OnlyFans type website to bring in money for the family; leaving Lily embarrassed when students at her school find out.

Lily gives birth to baby Charli Slater in the episode originally broadcast on 5 September 2023. Lily falls into labour whilst her former tutor and Stacey's stalker Theo Hawthorne (William Ellis) is in the home and tormenting Stacey – moments after confessing to stalking her and the family for months. Writers named the character after the singer Charli XCX, who tweeted about the reference with the caption, "Shout out to my gays [sic] in the writers room!". In the event of their daughter being born, Ricky changes his surname from Mitchell to Branning. Viewers see Lily initially struggling with motherhood. As Lily is going through a tough time as a new mum, she is easily wound up, with Whitney picking at her parenting and at one point making a comment about her daughter being alive whereas Whitney's had just died. Lily was pushed to her breaking point and shouted at Charli for crying.

Lily is conceived in September 2009 when Stacey stops taking medication for her bipolar disorder, causing her to act irrationally and sleep with numerous men, including Ryan. Around the same time, she is raped by Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) and after trying to tell her former husband Bradley Branning (Charlie Clements), she is sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Upon Stacey's return to Walford in December 2009, she and Bradley reconcile, and she tells him that she is pregnant. He is overjoyed, thinking the baby is his, until she says that she is three months pregnant, and the baby cannot be Bradley's.

After admitting that Archie raped her, Bradley vows to raise the baby as his own, but after Bradley dies in February 2010, Archie's daughter Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) tells Stacey that Archie was sterile, due to cancer treatment, making Stacey realise the baby's father is Ryan, as he is the only other person it could be. However, Stacey does not tell Ryan, and in June 2010, she goes into labour alone; however, Ryan finds her and takes her to the hospital. During labour, the baby is starved of oxygen, but is born healthy, and is named Lily when they come home. Stacey refuses to take Lily out of the house, and panics when her mother Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) does so without her knowing. However, Bradley's father Max Branning (Jake Wood) soon convinces Stacey to take Lily outside. In September 2010, during a fire at The Queen Victoria public house (see Queen Vic Fire Week), Stacey and Lily are trapped upstairs and are rescued by Ryan, who has just married Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks). Shortly afterwards, Stacey tells Ryan that he is Lily's father. The next day, Ryan declines an offer to hold Lily, and walks away. After Ryan and Janine's honeymoon, Janine discovers that Ryan is Lily's father, and is angry about it. She phones social services to report Stacey for neglecting Lily, but the social worker, Maria de Costa (Judy Browne), can see that Lily is fine, and notes that the allegation was false.

When Stacey and Janine are arrested while fighting on a night out in October 2010, Ryan looks after Lily, and after Stacey and Janine are released, vows to be a part of Lily's life. Stacey has Ryan's name added to Lily's birth certificate, but Ryan lies to Janine about where he has been all afternoon, and Janine does not tell him that she knows. She decides to kidnap Lily and go to France to get Stacey out of their lives. However, when Ryan finds Lily in the car, he orders Janine to stop. She stops on a level crossing with a train approaching, and is unable to restart the car. Ryan gets Lily out, but Janine cannot open her door. She then starts the engine just in time for the train to miss hitting her car.

Ryan insists they return Lily to her mother in Walford. Stacey has already called the police, but Janine tells her that she heard Lily crying upstairs, and took her to look after her; Ryan backs up Janine's story. When Ryan tells Janine he is leaving her to be with Stacey and Lily, Janine publicly announces to everyone in The Queen Vic that Stacey killed Archie. On Christmas Day 2010, Janine, knowing she has no hard evidence to get Stacey convicted, stabs herself to frame Stacey for attempted murder, causing Stacey and Lily to flee the country for Mexico, just as the police arrive. Ryan wants to come with them, but Stacey rejects him, leaving him devastated.