How are Denise and Patrick related in EastEnders? One DNA test nearly changed everything
Denise Fox and Patrick Trueman operate exactly like father and daughter — the advice, the scolding, the standing dinner invitations. So it's a fair question whether they're actually family. The answer took a DNA test to settle, and even then Patrick couldn't quite bring himself to accept the result.
The short answer
They're not related — not by blood and not by marriage. Patrick (Rudolph Walker) is a father figure to Denise (Diane Parish) and her sister Kim, nothing more on paper. But there was a period when Denise had genuine reason to believe he was her biological dad.
The band that started it
Denise never knew her father. The one thing she did know was that he'd played in a band called The Five Hectors — the same band Patrick played in back in the day. That narrowed the field to a handful of men, with Patrick squarely among them.
The DNA test — and Patrick's fib
Patrick took a DNA test, and it came back negative: not her father. Then he lied about it. Having grown attached to Denise, he told her he was her dad anyway, and kept the pretence going until the truth surfaced. Denise was hurt by the deception, but the pair patched things up and have functioned as family ever since. Fellow Hector Aubrey Valentine also ruled himself out, and the identity of Denise's real father has never been revealed — the show has simply left the file open.
Patrick's actual family tree
For anyone keeping score, Patrick's paternity record is complicated even without Denise:
- Anthony Trueman — his biological son.
- Paul Trueman — raised as his son, but a DNA test revealed Paul's real father was Patrick's best friend, Milton Hibbert.
- Isaac Baptiste — a son with Sheree, whose existence Patrick only discovered in 2020.
- Denise and Kim Fox — no biology, full daughter status in practice.
Walker, now in his 80s, has no plans to give any of it up. Asked about stepping away at the Pride of Britain Awards, he told Metro:
"Retiring? What's that?! No, I enjoy it, I enjoy being there, I enjoy working."
For the record: Walker and Diane Parish have played a father-and-daughter pair before — in Lovejoy, years before either arrived in Walford. The DNA test said no. Casting keeps saying yes.