Denise Fox (also Wicks and Johnson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Diane Parish. She made her first appearance on 11 May 2006 and temporarily left EastEnders in early 2008 to give birth to her second child. Her leave-taking had coincided with the departures of Matt Di Angelo (Dean Wicks), Phil Daniels (Kevin Wicks) and Kellie Shirley (Carly Wicks). She returned to Walford on 6 June 2008. This is Parish's second role in EastEnders, as she previously played singer Lola Christie in 1998. Introduced as a single mother to Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin) and Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu), the latter of whom was conceived from a vituperative marriage, Denise has gone on to marry three additional times. Firstly, to Kevin in 2007, who dies months later, to Lucas Johnson (Don Gilet) in 2009, with them divorcing two years later after he is imprisoned for murdering their ex-spouses respectively, and then to Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) in 2021. She also embarks on a loveless engagement to Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), flings with younger men Fatboy (Ricky Norwood) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) and a drunken one-night stand with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) which results in a late in life pregnancy. Denise's third child, a son, is born in 2017, but she gives him up for adoption, shortly before her mother tells her she is adopted herself (although this was later proven untrue). Other storylines involving Denise include surviving a bus crash, losing her job, descending into poverty, a relationship with policeman Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) that leads to them getting engaged and later entering a civil partnership, igniting a feud with Phil’s sister and Jack’s ex, Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) and struggling with family issues such as her stepdaughter Amy Mitchell's (Ellie Dadd) self-harming and her stepson Ricky Mitchell (Frankie Day) becoming a father at twelve-years-old leading to her having an affair with Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiari). Storylines Moving to Walford, Denise has a tempestuous encounter with Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels); however, an attraction develops and they begin dating. Denise's ex-spouse Owen Turner (Lee Ross), an vituperative alcoholic, soon turns up and wishes to reunite with their daughter Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu). When Denise prevents this from happening, Owen kidnaps Libby and tries to drown them both - but she recovers and Owen is arrested. Denise, who never knew her father but knows he played