this 'black dog' that follows them around—it's a darkness. They share similar histories with family dysfunction, so he knows why Janine is so unpredictable and uneven. He sees himself in Janine." Shepherd also joked about how Michael and Janine's child might cope with having such twisted parents. He added: "I pity Michael and Janine's baby! How would I rate his skills as a father? Quite low. Imagine Michael changing a nappy! But he sees this as a chance to redeem himself." Shepherd explained why his character starts to turn against his friend Jack Branning in early 2012. It was earlier reported that Michael will discover that Jack has forged Roxy's signature in order to get their daughter Amy and then shares this information with Roxy. Asked whether Michael is worried about betraying Jack, Shepherd commented: "No, as Michael doesn't like Jack's attitude towards Derek. Derek has come in and assumed the role as head of the Branning family. He's bossing everyone around and he's committing all sorts of low-level crime. Michael is galled by this. He also doesn't want the Brannings to be too powerful on the Square." Discussing his character's twisted personality, he continued: "I like his complexity and I do enjoy playing him. I feel very fortunate to be able to explore his darkness. There's a lot more territory to cover too, so I'm looking forward to that. People have taken to him as well—but one woman I met once did scream at me!" Even though Janine's pregnancy has brought Janine and Michael closer, Shepherd had revealed that it will not last. Investment fraud In April 2012, it was announced that Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) would form an unlikely relationship with Michael. Michael seizes this opportunity to trick Jean into giving him a large sum of money. Michael tells Jean, that because one of the suspects for the murder of Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison) had a large sum of money, the police could easily target Jean as an additional suspect. Jean gives her scratch card winnings consisting of £8000 to Michael so he can invest it into his gym, but in fact Michael plans to use it to pay for his wedding to Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks). Michael, seeing that Jean is an easy target, decides to con her again by asking her for a second investment by "lending" him Alfie Moon's (Shane Richie) savings. Even though Jean