anne howes, played by cassie stuart, meets phil mitchell (steve mcfadden) while he is on a stag night in a curry house. phil brings her back to his home at the queen victoria public house and they have sex. a romance is quick to develop, but anne turns out to be a habitual liar. she refuses to give phil her home telephone number or allow him back to her house and when phil questions her on this, she becomes defensive and hostile. by this time phil has fallen for her, so he perseveres, but he begins to grow suspicious when he spots her arguing with a strange man in the middle of bridge street market. anne claims that the man was merely an ex-boyfriend, but when phil confronts him he is told that anne is his wife and a serial adulterer.