Sharon became prominent in the 1990s due to her becoming the landlady of The Queen Victoria public house and her romantic pairings with brothers Grant (Ross Kemp) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden).

In 2024, Sharon deals with the grief of losing Keanu which leads to her being in prison, bumping into Chrissie after framing Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) with the help of The Six and develops a relationship with Phil and Grant's relative, Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian).

The Watts were seen by Holland as integral to the show's success, partly because he had already guessed that the pub was going to be a monstrous battleground where emotions would run high on a regular basis, and also because the occupants would be providing the majority of the drama.

Described by the BBC as "slightly spoilt, over-dramatic, blousy, but ultimately kind-hearted",[10] Sharon has been classified by Rupert Smith, author of EastEnders: 20 Years in Albert Square, as a "drama queen",[11] a "strong passionate [woman] who [goes] to pieces where men are concerned and always [comes] back for more".

Even so, that doesn't stop her going after something that she really wants [...] Sharon came through to become a nice girl behind the streetwise image [...] with her blonde hair and bright make-up she adds a cheerful touch to drab Albert Square.

[citation needed] Critics have praised the character's complex progression from teenager to adult, referencing the investment that viewers hold in Sharon, having watched her grow up on-screen.

[25] In her teenage years, Sharon's main storylines depicted the plight of a young woman struggling to find her identity while growing up in a broken home and coping with her mother's alcoholism and her father's infidelities.

Storyline editor, Andrew Holden, has stated that the decision to promote Sharon from barmaid to landlady of The Vic in 1991 stemmed from discussion about the character's long-term future in EastEnders.

"[citation needed] Reporter for The Guardian, Sally Vincent, has commented on Sharongate's success: "It wasn't so much the guilt-stacked, long-drawn-out business of Sharon 'n' Phil's helpless lust for each other—all that unseemly face-sucking while her hubby/his brother, the ape-like Grant, languished in gaol for trying to set fire to everyone—that broke the ratings record, nor was it the ingenious ruse of using the [DJ's tape deck] to broadcast Sharon's poignant little confession to the entire clientele of Walford's Queen Vic [pub].

However, as Thomas Sutcliffe writing for The Independent surmised, "In the end, Sharon recoiled from the full horror of public humiliation in the Queen Vic and conducted a minor-key revenge on the pavement outside.

"[48] The producer's decision to bring Sharon back reportedly shocked Dean, as she believed the time for a return had passed, particularly as Grant's actor, Ross Kemp, had just left the series.

She commented, "A great deal was made in the show of Den's [signet] ring turning up [as proof that he died]—but if you watch the episode of the shooting you'll see he isn't even wearing it at the time of his supposed death.

"[64] Writing for The Guardian, Owen Gibson suggested that with the Christmas Day 2004 episodes EastEnders were attempting to reprise the trick that garnered the show its biggest ever audience in 1986 of 30.6 million, by gathering the Watts family together for a festive altercation.

[65] Dennis and Sharon eventually returned to the serial as a couple in the summer of 2005 having reunited off-screen, neither aware that Den has been murdered by his scorned second wife Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) in their absence.

[66] Prominent in Sharon and Dennis's return arc was their marriage and involvement in uncovering Chrissie as Den's killer after Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) was originally charged with the murder.

[74] Kirkwood had previously told a columnist for Inside Soap that in Sharon's absence, Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) had filled the role of the "quivery lipped blonde" female.

The trailer showed Albert Square and its residents being blown away by "Hurricane Sharon", who floated down from the sky wearing a wedding dress to the soundtrack of "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones.

"[86] As part of Executive Producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins's attempt to modernise EastEnders and to reflect trendy areas in East London like Shoreditch, Sharon and Phil were given a new wine bar in the soap to front in 2014.

Sharon and the Mitchells try to persuade Stacey to drop her alibi, so Sam can be released, but to no avail following an angry confrontation with Zoe's mother Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), who is trying to protect her daughter from prosecution.

In the summer of 2012, after more than six years away, Sharon returns to Walford asking Phil to help her retrieve Dennis Jnr (Harry Hickles) from her fiancé, John Hewland (Jesse Birdsall), whom she has just jilted at their wedding ceremony.

but she soon discovers the truth when Cindy Williams (Mimi Keene) sends her surrogate brother Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington) a video message on his laptop revealing that he killed her.

Sharon arrives home to find Gavin threatening to kill both Kathy and her stepson Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid); he greets her with the words "Hello, Princess" – Den's catchphrase, revealing that he is her biological father.

Sharon returns with Dennis for Billy (Perry Fenwick) and Honey Mitchell's (Emma Barton) second engagement party only to find Phil collapsed on the floor from coughing up blood.

Sharon grows guilty for her treatment of Ian when she sees Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White) get framed for his attack, leading to her disappearance, unaware that she has been murdered by Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith).

Sharon sells half of her gym to Phil and Kat in order to raise the money, though secretly Linda has also entered into negotiations with Nish (Navin Chowdhry) and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal).

Sharon effectively evades justice for her part in Keanu's death when Nish himself takes credit for the murder, resulting in his arrest; she subsequently convinces Bernie not to report The Six to the police when she returns to Walford after Linda confessed to her in the aftermath of Dean's trial.

[52] Furedi said that women who consider abortion often feel ambivalent, guilty and have an exaggerated sense of the risks to their future fertility and she suggested that TV makers were "cruel, not just wrong [...] to crank up those fears.".

"[108] Conversely, reporter Matthew Bayliss was positive about the exit stating, "[Sharon] survived the sort of shunning normally suffered by 13th-century Welsh witches in order to wreak the perfect revenge on Grant, tricking him into publicly proposing to her, just so she could turn him down.

"[16] During a period of falling ratings amid heavy media criticism aimed at EastEnders in 2004, executive producer Louise Berridge spoke to the press about reasons for viewer complaints.

[110] Media reporter for The Guardian, Stuart Heritage, was critical about EastEnders' decision to reintroduce Sharon for the third time in 2012, suggesting that it meant that the programme had run out of original ideas.