Clare Bates (also Tyler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gemma Bissix.

The British media focused on the character's penchant for revealing clothing, and while she was praised by some critics, it was suggested that she was underused upon her return.

[3] Clare, the daughter of Debbie Tyler (Nicola Duffett), arrives in Walford in 1993 when her mother moves in with her new partner Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley).

Clare is friendly with the other young girls in Walford, Janine Butcher (Alexia Demetriou) and Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy).

They cause trouble for the barber Felix Kawalski (Harry Landis) in November 1995, when they spread rumours that he is a pervert who has murdered his wife, and keeps her mutilated body in his cellar.

Clare breaks into Felix's barber shop one evening to find the body but she trips on the cellar stairs and is knocked unconscious.

In 1997, Clare starts socialising with a bad crowd at school, and subsequently begins bullying Sonia, leading to her being reprimanded by her teacher, Julie Haye (Karen Henthorn).

She then falls for a boy at her school, Josh Saunders (Jon Lee), who rescues Clare from her old gang after they turn on her for leaving their clique.

They grow closer and she attempts to seduce him but he rebuffs her advances, due to recently separating from his wife, Stacey (Lacey Turner), but relents when Clare dresses up as Princess Leia to impress him.

Clare knows that Arnold had bought his wife expensive jewellery and persuades Bradley to help her steal it by claiming that it belongs to her.

Despite starting as enemies, Clare becomes friends with her colleague, Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin) and they regularly go out together, looking for wealthy men.

Revealing a more vulnerable side, Clare becomes morose and upset on the anniversary of her mother's death, telling Dot that she feels alone and can only rely upon herself.

Later, she tells Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves) that Nigel was unsupportive when she slept with a boy at school and got a reputation for being promiscuous, simply putting her on the contraceptive pill.

He subsequently turns against her so Clare throws a party at Dot's house, inviting random people who trash the place.

Clare's introductory storyline focused upon domestic violence—her father Liam's physical abuse of her mother—and being caught between her feuding parents.

After six years in the serial, the character was written out in 1998 as a result of Paul Bradley's decision to leave, reportedly for fear of being typecast in the role of Nigel the "nerd".

In September 2007, an official BBC press report announced that actress Gemma Bissix had agreed to reprise the role of Clare, ten years after her initial departure.

[10] Bissix was approached about returning by the executive producer of EastEnders, Diederick Santer, following her successful stint as soap villain Clare Devine in Channel 4's Hollyoaks.

"[11] Clare Bates made her reappearance on-screen on 1 February 2008 — in her first scene she was thrown out of the back of a car by her lover, the CEO of a big company.

[12] Unlike the "cute, sweet" character she appeared to be during the 1990s, Clare was transformed into a "maneating bitch" upon her reintroduction in 2008; a gold digger, chasing after wealthy men for their money.

Clare's 'mystery' is brought about by her looking for that father figure and needing that kind of attention, which then leads her into preying on the men of Walford.

Her forté is finding men with money and using her assets to entice them and rip them off..."[11][13] The character's first return storyline concentrated on her attempt to seduce and then blackmail wealthy resident Ian Beale (played by Adam Woodyatt).

Kris Green from Digital Spy has suggested that the programme "only really ever scratched the surface with [Clare]" and that there was still a lot that was undiscovered about the character, which Bissix has agreed with.

"[22] After one last "huge row" with Bradley and realising that she had no friends in Walford, Clare decided to leave, making her exit in an hour-long episode that aired on 7 August 2008.

"[25] The character's return in 2008, where Clare was thrown out of a car's rear door into the gutter, was called a "sensational entrance" by Daily Mirror critic, Tony Stewart, and "yet another reason to watch Enders again".

He speculated that she would be "compulsive viewing", suggesting that there was "an air of desperate mystery" about her and added that the "sweet teenage schoolgirl has grown up to be a self-possessed and manipulative stunner who'll give the Mitchell sisters a run for their money.

[26] According to a May 2008 article by Martin Smith, television critic for the Coventry Telegraph, the character of Clare Bates is one of only two reasons to watch EastEnders.

"[27] The character's "scantily clad" attire has been commented on in the British tabloid press,[14] with Tony Stewart from the Daily Mirror suggesting that Gemma Bissix might "turn up in Albert Square starkers next".

[18] In May 2008, Clare was shown dressed as Princess Leia, and according to Stewart she looked like "a porno version" of the Star Wars character, "in white hot pants and a skimpy top that [allowed] her galactic orbs to bounce about".

"[22] In reference to the character's brief dalliance with Christianity in 2008, TV critic for heat magazine, Julie Emery commented, "Stop right now, EastEnders.