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Who was Gavin Sullivan in EastEnders and how did he die?

16 March 2021, 08:22

Gavin Sullivan was played by Paul Nicholas in EastEnders. Picture: BBC

Who is Gavin in EastEnders? And what happened to him?

EastEnders’ Kathy Beale recently found out the shock news that Gavin Sullivan has died.

Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) received a call on Monday night’s episode while she was in the café with Ben (Max Bowden), letting her know that Gavin had passed away.

With a memorial service later that day, Ben was shocked to hear that Kathy was considering attending.

But Kathy was more concerned with the tough task of breaking the news to Sharon (Letitia Dean).

But who was Gavin in EastEnders? Here’s what we know…

Kathy Beale had to tell Sharon her biological father had died. Picture: BBC

Who was Gavin Sullivan in EastEnders?

Gavin was Sharon's biological father and Kathy's third husband.

He was first mentioned in EastEnders all the way back in 1990, when Sharon tried to track down her real parents.

While Sharon did manage to get in contact with mum Carol Hanley (Sheila White), Gavin never appeared on the soap until 2015.

The shock storyline saw Kathy famously return to the Square after faking her own death.

It was Gavin who convinced Kathy to pretend to be dead after manipulating her for years.

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Kathy had been secretly meeting up with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), trying to hatch a plan to escape Gavin’s evil clutches and return to her family in Walford.

But Gavin uncovered Kathy’s plan and ended up kidnapping her in 2016.

His sister Margaret Midhurst (Jan Harvey) managed to set Kathy free, but was then killed by Gavin.

After trying to run away from the police, Gavin was finally arrested in 2016.

He was dragged off to the police station, with the expectation that he'd face a 10-year sentence for his role in Margaret's death.

Sharon later told Phil: "We won't be seeing him again. None of us will."