Zoe Slater is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Ryan.

In 2003, Zoe and Kelly made headlines in the UK, in a New Year's Eve episode that was filmed on-location in Scotland.

In the storyline, Zoe, Kelly and others, travel from London to Scotland but their minibus crashes, leaving them stranded and injured on the freezing cold Scottish moors.

A teenage Zoe first arrives in Walford in September 2000 with her family, which consists of her sisters Kat (Jessie Wallace), Lynne (Elaine Lordan) and Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth); their father Charlie (Derek Martin) and their grandmother Big Mo (Laila Morse).

She ends up living on the streets where she is discovered sick and penniless by Roxy Drake (Tracy Brabin), a pimp determined to recruit Zoe.

Roxy and fellow prostitute Kelly Taylor (Brooke Kinsella) dress and make-up Zoe, but she gets drunk and vomits on her client.

In 2004, she briefly dates Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), but he is secretly in love with his adoptive half-sister Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), and they eventually reveal their relationship.

Dennis catches them in bed together and leaves, but not before telling Den's wife, Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman).

Right after Sharon leaves, Den realises what Chrissie had done and proceeds to attack her – smashing her head against a fruit machine.

Zoe leaves for Ibiza later in 2005 after having an emotional goodbye with Kat, while Chrissie is eventually caught out and charged with Den's murder, and Sam subsequently goes on the run.

Just before her departure, Zoe had revealed the truth about Den fathering her baby and that she had terminated the pregnancy, having previously claimed to have suffered miscarriage.

In July 2022, it is revealed that Zoe has returned to London when Stacey's daughter, Lily (Lillia Turner) tracks her down on social media and invites her to Kat's upcoming wedding to Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden).

[1] In September 2024, Zoe was mentioned by Chrissie when Sharon is sent to prison for degrading a judge during Dean Wicks' (Matt Di Angelo) trial for the murder of Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters).

The character of Zoe and the rest of the Slater family were created during workshops with Tony Jordan and John Yorke.

The family consisted of, grandmother Mo Harris (Laila Morse), father Charlie (Derek Martin), his five children, Lynne (Elaine Lordan), Kat (Jessie Wallace), Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth), Zoe (Ryan), Belinda (Leanne Lakey), who was to be introduced to EastEnders at a later date, as well as Lynne's boyfriend Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves).

[3] It later transpired that Kat was the mother of Zoe, after being raped by her uncle Harry Slater (Michael Elphick).

Ryan was cast in the role of Zoe after the character was developed at an improvisation session for thirty actors and actresses earlier in the year.

The actors performed a Nolans routine at the session, which was "later included on EastEnders as part of one of the Queen Vic's karaoke nights".

The News of the World reported that Kat would tell Zoe that she was actually her mother and that Harry had raped her when she was 13.

In the British press, Kelly and Zoe were compared to two former popular characters, who also shared a close screen friendship, Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) and Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon).

"[9] In 2003, Zoe and Kelly made headlines in the UK during the New Year's Eve episode that was filmed on-location in Scotland.

In said episode, the pair along with some group of teenagers travel from London to Scotland for New Year's Eve, but their minibus crashes, leaving them stranded and injured on the freezing cold Scottish moors.

Kinsella explained the reasons behind the kiss: "They're stuck in the hills, thinking they're going to die—it's a way of saying goodbye and also of showing how much they love each other as friends.

[15] The storyline saw Zoe, Chrissie and Sam plot his death, and a source said, "The three girls team up after deciding they have to get rid of Den but viewers will be left wondering who the actual killer is.

One of her friends who spoke in September 2004 revealed, "Without sounding arrogant, Michelle believes she has the looks and talent to succeed at the highest level.

A source for the show said, "Michelle [Ryan] has made no secret of her plans to leave the soap in recent months.

"[21] Since her departure she told the Bristol Evening Post that she has no plans to return saying,"I just got quite bored in the end, to be honest.

A BBC spokesperson dismissed the rumours, telling Digital Spy that there are no plans for Zoe to return.

[30] In addition, the EastEnders website named the moment where Kat told Zoe that she was her mother one of the most 'dramatic endings'.

This was a wasted opportunity, a chance to explore an emotionally complex situation between best friends that became just another exploitive TV moment instead.