He is the son of Monica Gallagher (Annabelle Apsion) and Gary Bennett, revealed when his blood group was found to be incompatible with the rest of his siblings'.
In the early series, Ian is depicted as closest to his brother Lip, with whom he shares a room, and is initially the only member of his family to know that he was gay.
Kash Karib (Chris Bisson) is to date his only long-term boyfriend, though he has a brief relationship with Sean Bennett, and an ongoing friendship, sometimes sexual, with Micky Maguire (Ciarán Griffiths).
He has a relationship of convenience with Mandy Maguire (Samantha Siddall), to protect his secret, which nearly turns sexual when they're both at a low point, but they fumble about until Ian decides it's a bad idea.
Due to Gerard Kearns' break to work on a film,[1] Ian leaves in the first episode of the sixth series after suffering amnesia after being struck by a car.
He returns in the seventh episode; this features the debut of Danny, a deaf teenager whom Ian unwittingly transports back to the UK in the boot of his car.
Ian feels ashamed that he let Maxine fight the battle on her own and in spite of her reassurances, he begins to believe that she would have been better off with Carl.
In the finale of Series 7, Ian and Maxine were returning home after a night out, when they are accosted by a rough whom attempts to mug them.
He happens to bump into Karen Maguire (Rebecca Atkinson), as she and the abusive Joe Pritchard (Ben Batt) are about to leave Chatsworth themselves.
Ian's character is distilled from several sources in series creator Paul Abbott's life, including a gay nephew who is not out to the rest of his family.
[3] Ian is highly orderly and disciplined, traits that are attributed to his membership in his school's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps,[3] rather than his upbringing.
[6] Ian continues his affair with Kash, but Linda, who has installed security cameras in response to rampant shoplifting at the store, catches them in the act on tape.
[3] The truth is uncovered when Ian undergoes DNA testing when Lip hopes to prove that Frank is not the children's biological father.
[9] Season 1 closes with Ian's arrest and release after being stopped with Lip in a car stolen by Fiona's boyfriend Steve.
This leads to a physical confrontation between the brothers,[13] and they refuse to communicate with each other until Grammy, recently released from prison for medical reasons, convinces them to fight and get out their issues.
After stalking him for several days, Mickey changes his mind and assaults a police officer instead, violating his parole and returning him to juvenile detention.
The next day, Ian, depressed over a poor computer science test score, allows Monica to take him to a local enlistment center to join the Army.
Lloyd later asks Ian if he could break into his house to steal back his things since his soon-to-be ex-wife changed the locks.
When Ian and the rest of the Gallagher children are taken away by DCFS, Mickey lets him stay at his house since his father Terry was away on an extended hunting trip.
[24] Mickey and Ian launch a criminal enterprise, robbing closeted gay men and threatening to out them if they report the crime.
[25] Following his manic behavior throughout the season, Ian ends up laid up in bed in a deep depression, worrying his family that he has inherited Monica's bipolar disorder.
[27] He is later released after they discover his condition, and he returns home to break up with Mickey, who is promptly chased by Sammi, who wants to kill him as revenge.
Ian breaks up with Caleb and goes home, only to find that Frank got revenge on the family by blocking them out of the room of their house with cement after taking Liam.
Ian forms a relationship with Trevor, a transgender man, and they are happy, until Mickey breaks out and comes back into his life.
In the midst of the season, he goes off his meds and becomes a religious fanatic called gay Jesus, and as a result he is arrested for a series of arson acts.
Ian confesses to being bipolar and is sent to two years in prison, where he finds that Mickey is his new cellmate and the reunited lovers resume their relationship.
"[29] At a 2011 Television Critics Association panel, executive producer John Wells stated that with Cameron Monaghan's having turned 18 the series would be able to explore Ian's sexuality in ways that had previously been barred by federal law.
Reviewing the pilot episode, Sarah Hughes of The Independent wrote that their relationship was a highlight of the UK series, and proved just as effective in the US adaptation.
"[31] In a generally unfavorable review of the series, Variety's Brian Lowry assessed that "what little soul it possesses" is derived from the Ian–Lip relationship.
[32] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe called Monaghan "extraordinary", and wrote: "The moments when Lip confronts Ian about his sexuality are remarkably honest and refreshing, as they each slowly realize they don't need to play out predictably hostile roles.