Simon "Wicksy" Wicks is a fictional character from the British BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nick Berry between 1985 and 1990.

On 13 January 2012, Simon made a one-off cameo for the funeral of his mother, Pat Evans (Pam St Clement).

He has flings with Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler), Mary Smith (Linda Davidson) and Naima Jeffery (Shreela Ghosh) among others.

They move in together, but both want different things out of the relationship and Simon eventually jilts her in 1988 on the advice of his boss Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), whose womanising he idolises.

Simon Wicks was introduced by creator and executive producer Julia Smith just after the show's inception in 1985, making his first appearance in October that year.

He has told interviewer Dan Abramson, "I auditioned on a Wednesday and then on Friday I arrived in Albert Square and began shooting my first scenes with Dirty Den, whom I had enjoyed watching on the box for some time.

[6] Kate Lock, author of EastEnders' official book, Who's who?, described Simon as a "smoothie and a charmer [...] shallow, lazy and unreliable."

[7] Additionally, author Rupert Smith has suggested that, "with his blow-dried hair, rolled-up jacket and toothy grin, [Wicksy] was the apotheosis of 80s manhood.

[8] Discussing Wicksy's characterisation in 1993, Berry inferred that he was not entirely happy with the changes that producers attempted to introduce surrounding his character.

[2] Actor Nick Berry released a ballad entitled "Every Loser Wins" in October 1986, having previously sung the song in character on-screen (accompanied by a piano).

"Every Loser Wins" was a smash hit, reaching number 1 in the UK singles chart, where it stayed for three weeks, knocking Madonna's "True Blue" off the top spot.

EastEnders creators Julia Smith and Tony Holland both felt it lacked credibility and branded it an experiment that failed.

[5] 1986 heralded the beginning of a storyline that Colin Brake has described as one of the soap's most complicated, convoluted, confusing and mind-boggling: The paternity of Simon Wicks.

[5] As part of the original storyline, Wicksy's mother, Pat (Pam St Clement), was introduced as a major antagonist for the Beale family, when she announced that her former husband, Pete, was not Simon's biological father, as had previously been claimed.

In the on-screen events, Simon was shown to bond with Kenny, despite Pat's admitting that she did not know which of the Beale brothers had fathered Wicksy.

[5] Despite this revelation on-screen, Colin Brake stated in an official EastEnders' book in 1995 that the true parentage of Simon was still uncertain in the minds of the producers.

Colin Brake suggested that with this storyline, EastEnders were sowing the seeds of a situation that would provide much story material for years to come.

[5] In a further plot twist, Cindy, rejected by Simon, married Ian and appropriated him as the father of Steven Beale, Wicksy's baby.

[5] The episode where Ian discovered that Simon was Cindy's other man was dubbed by the script department as "the Devon Cottage Climax" and aired in September 1990.

[5] In the on-screen events, Wicksy spent time with Steven and Cindy at her parents' cottage in Devon, but the idyll was shattered by the arrival of Ian.

Never say never - who knows when I'll need the work..."[17] Berry was reportedly asked to reprise the role of Simon in 2004 by executive producer Louise Berridge, though a return at this time did not materialise.

Maybe I should ask him to come back…"[19] He confirmed his desire to get the character back to website Walford Web in 2010, but added that it was not to be; he did not state whether or not Berry had been approached.

[20] On 13 January 2012 Berry made a brief one-off appearance on EastEnders in a scene that aired as part of the episode's end credits, filmed the previous day.

[1] It depicted Simon laying flowers at his mother's grave at night and saying goodbye to her before walking off into the darkness, and did not involve any other cast members.

[22] The character proved popular among fans and Berry became a teen pin-up during his tenure, winning Britain's sexiest man title in 1986.

[6] The single Berry released as part of a storyline in the soap reached number one in the charts and was the UK's second highest selling record that year.

[24] In 2020, Sara Wallis and Ian Hyland from The Daily Mirror placed Simon 60th on their ranked list of the best EastEnders characters of all time.