in an attempt to exclude barry and take his place in his father's heart, nathan makes a plan to set barry up and steal the affections of barry's wife natalie (lucy speed). his first advancement towards natalie results in the pair kissing, but natalie is adamant that it will go no further and despite further flirtations from nathan, their kiss is a one-off occurrence. undeterred, nathan continues with his plan. aware of barry's past monetary blunders, and knowing that any subsequent mistakes will not be tolerated by roy, nathan steals money from the car-lot and sets barry up for the blame. the plan seems to be working, until natalie pieces it together and uncovers his ploy. with nathan's true character unveiled, roy decides that he wants nothing more to do with him and nathan is banished from albert square in mid-2002.