Anna Knight is the daughter of George Knight and Cindy Beale. She is the half sister of Junior, Steven, Peter, Lucy and Cindy and also the sister of Gina Knight. She made her first appearance on 1 June 2023. She is portrayed by Molly Rainford.
Backstory
Anna and Gina are the daughters of Cindy Beale, however the girls and their father, George, knew her as her alias, Rose Knight. On her and Gina's birthdays, Cindy would make treasure hunts for them. Cindy left the Knights overnight in 2014 and never messaged them out of fear they would be in danger as she may have been seen travelling to Walford after she left. After Rose left, George would often get drunk, leaving Gina to put Anna to bed. The two also had to make George eat, making him live off cheese sandwiches. When Anna was young, she'd frequently bring home stray animals. These include three cats, four dogs and a goat called Ronaldo, who according to George, stunk. In 2021, the two adopted Tyson, however they lost him once.
Doted on by her father George, Anna is fun, loveable, and big-hearted, but should never be underestimated. George, Anna and her razor-sharp sister Gina have been bound together for years and arriving in Walford is the fresh-start the Knights are looking for. Anna previously lived in Marbella with Gina and George and worked in George's bar as a barmaid.
Storylines
2023 to present: Arrival, Cindy’s return and truth about ethnicity
Anna arrives in Walford with Gina and George, they move into The Queen Victoria to run the Vic with George's girlfriend Elaine Peacock and her daughter Linda Carter. Linda is furious as Elaine had never told that George and the girls would be running the Vic with them, Linda later gets angry with the girls when they play loud music which upsets her autistic son Ollie Carter. The girls also annoy Kathy Beale when they bring their pet dog Tyson in to her Cafe, the girls are unaware that Kathy and other residents are upset because Lola Pearce-Brown had passed away the previous night. The girls anger the residents of Walford further when they play loud music in the Vic while the residents are mourning Lola, George later comes into the pub and tells them to turn the music off and tells them about Lola's death. Anna and Gina then apologies to Kathy and the others, the girls later catch the eye of Bobby Beale and Freddie Slater. However, when Freddie and Bobby creepily wave at them the two girls laugh. On 6 June 2023 George and Elaine get engaged, Anna is happy for them. However, Gina does not approve thinking George is forgetting about her mother. Linda later pretends to make peace with the girls in order to get information about George, Linda takes them for food at Walford East, however the girls quickly clock on to what Linda is doing and leave. Bobby asks George what is Anna's favourite song and George joking tells him it's the Barbie Girl song, Elaine tells Bobby George is winding him up and that he should just sing from the heart, while Bobby is singing he notices Anna laughing with Gina and assumes it's to do with him, an upset and embarrassed Bobby then stops singing and leaves.
Anna and Gina check Lola's husband Jay Brown is okay when he gets drunk in the Vic the day before Lola's funeral. Linda approaches Phil Mitchell and asks him to find out what happened to Rose, Phil eventually discovers that no one with the name Rose Knight exists. Phil tells George this and curiosity gets the better of George and he plans to find out who Rose really was, George books a holiday to Marbella but tells Elaine that he's going there because he's received an offer for the bar and he is going to meet his son George Jr while he is out there. However later on Gina and Anna reveal that George Jr is in Dubai, Elaine confronts George and demands answers. Elaine knows George is going to find Rose, when George refuses to talk Elaine tells him she's no ones second best and threatens to cancel the wedding. George then tells Elaine and Linda that Rose never existed and reveals everything that Phil told him. However, Anna overhears some of the conversation, George also tells Anna about Rose but tells her not to tell Gina. Anna tells Gina that she needs to know something about their mother but Gina doesn't want to know, Gina later decides she does want to know and asks Elaine what the secret about her mother is. Elaine tells Gina and Gina takes the news badly, Gina steals money from the Vic and goes to Peggy's and gets drunk. Gina later buys cocaine and it's revealed that Gina used to take it, George and Anna find Gina and bring her back to the Vic. George reveals that it's his fault Rose left as on the day she left he had caught her packing a suitcase and they had a row, in which George told her if she leaves to never come back. The girls are furious with George and storm off.The girls prepare to move out because of George's lie but in the end are convinced by Elaine to stay.
On 31 July 2023 the Knights realise £200 has gone missing with Anna secretly confessing to Gina that she stole the money to hire a private investigator to find their mother. Gina is furious and tells Elaine and George that Anna took the money, however Anna lies to them and tells them she simply lost it. Anna later texts Gina and tells her she is still going through with the investigation, Gina sees a drug dealer outside Walford East and goes to buy drugs off him. However Ravi Gulati tell him to go away and threatens to put him in hospital, Ravi then gives Gina drugs himself. When Freddie goes missing Bobby and Anna look for him and begin talking, Bobby tells Anna that when he was a child he killed his sister Lucy Beale and asks if Anna knows with Anna revealing that Elaine told her. Anna tells Bobby that she can see he's a good person and the two continue to look for Freddie.
Anna is given her mother's number by Gabriel and she informs her family, George reveals that the number she has been given is the number that Cindy has had all along and reveals he has called her himself many times but she doesn't care. Anna then leaves the room and begins crying, after a heart-to-heart between George, Gina and Elaine they decide to give Anna their blessing and Anna calls Cindy leaving a voicemail. Cindy's son and Gina and Anna's half-brother Peter Beale hears this voicemail and discovers that he has two sisters that Cindy kept a secret, Peter then returns to Walford against Ian's wishes to meet his sisters. The next day Bobby finds Peter on the sofa and Peter apologises to Bobby for stealing from the family and his general antics before he left, Peter goes to the Vic and begins talking to Gina and Anna with both of them unaware than he is their brother. Ben Mitchell later sees Peter and attempts to square up to him but is ordered to leave the pub by George, Peter is then concerned when he finds out that Bobby and Anna have been getting close and attempts to put a stop to it, however despite Peter's best efforts Anna and Bobby later kiss leaving Peter horrified. Peter is left horrified again when Gina flirts with him and attempts to kiss him and he backs away knocking over a glass, George turns around and assumes Peter was harassing Gina and throws Peter out of the Vic and tells him to stay away from Gina.
George organises a twenty first birthday party for Anna along with Elaine and they invite multiple residents to the Vic for the party, Anna and Gina then go out for drinks at The Prince Albert for drinks before arriving back at the Vic and Anna is touched by the birthday party. Cindy returns to Walford to find Peter and Ian also turns up to try and get Cindy to come back to France however Cindy runs in to George and the two are shocked to see each other again. George and Cindy talk in the barrel Store, where we are shown a flashback from 2014, revealing that the reason she walked out on the Knights was because of Lucy’s death. She had gone back to Albert Square where she was found by Mary. Mary tells her that she can’t go back to Marbella because Jackie Ford’s people might find her, so Cindy goes to France. Back in the present, the talk is interrupted by Linda Carter, coming to get some prosecco for the party. George had lied and said that Gina and Anna were still in Spain, however Linda gives away that they are in the Vic. Cindy tries to go to see them but George stops her. However, she eventually pushes past him, making her way into the Vic and seeing Gina and Anna for the first time in nine years, as well as Sharon Watts, Phil Mitchell and Sonia Fowler for the first time in twenty five. Cindy asks to speak with the girls upstairs and meets George's fiancée Elaine, the girls agree to hear Cindy out and she tells them everything. Just as it looks like Cindy is winning them around George tells then that Cindy never came back to find them but that she infact came back to find Peter and didn't know they were their, the girls then reject their mother and go for drinks at the Albert. Later on Anna has a one-night-stand with Freddie and Gina takes drugs and subsequently overdoses before Cindy and George find her and call her an ambulance.
Gina is taken into hospital and George and Cindy come to visit her. George forbids Cindy from seeing Gina and when Anna arrives, Cindy makes up with her. Cindy is later furious with Ian when she finds out that Ian knew George and the girls were in Walford, Cindy tells Ian that if he wants to make it up to her then they need to stay in Walford and not go back to France. Ian agrees and later tells Kathy that he will be taking his businesses back from her and that he will be moving back into his house with Cindy and that if Kathy doesn't like it then she needs to move out. When George gets back to the Square, Cindy and George have an argument and George calls her Rose. She tells him that 'it's not Rose, it's Cindy'. When Ian is told by Alfie that Anna slept with Freddie he exposes her to Bobby and the whole Vic and is punched by Gina as a result.
Cindy later finds out from Anna that George is selling their bar in Marbella, Cindy tells Ian that she plans to demand half of the money from the sale from George. When Cindy tells George that she wants half the money he reluctantly agrees, Cindy later kisses George but he pulls away but both are seen by Gina who believes they both kissed. Anna joins Freddie when he goes to confront his father Graham Foster after Freddie discover Graham raped his mother Little Mo, after the confrontation Anna goes for a drink with Freddie where he's accused by a woman and her boyfriend of touching her despite Freddie being innocent. An angry Freddie later attacks Theo Hawthorne after catching him trying to rape Stacey Slater, Freddie later decides to leave the square and Anna says goodbye to him and Bobby forgives him for sleeping with Anna behind his back.
On 17 January 2024 Anna and Bobby (who have rekindled their friendship since he found out about Anna and Freddie) go out for a meal with Cindy, Ian and Peter believing it's a date. During the meal Anna and Bobby order Lobster but Anna freaks out when she finds out that the Lobsters are boiled alive, Bobby then helps Anna take the Lobsters. Cindy, Ian and Peter laugh at the two but ultimately agree to help them free the Lobsters back into the wild, they put the Lobsters in the bath and later free them into the sea of Southend. Anna and Bobby plan to go on another date, Cindy doesn't approve and tells Bobby that it is nothing personal but that he isn't good enough for Anna and that they won't last but Bobby wins her around by comparing himself to Steve Rodgers (superman). Anna tells Elaine that Bobby is kind and that she likes him, Elaine jokingly tells Anna to marry him. Ian books the two a table at Walford East and at the end of the date Bobby and Anna kiss in front of their families.
They have a healthy relationship though troubles stir for the Knight family when George and grandfather, Eddie Knight, discuss the events of George’s true heritage and ethnicity. Anna and Gina secretly listen in and are shocked to hear how their adoptive grandfather is disgustingly racist, he also reveals the shame he felt by adopting a child with dark skin. Anna and Gina are distraught and argue in the barrel store about how Anna has never had to struggle with racial discrimination whilst Gina did, and that she was always sheltered from the truth. This sparks a revelation between the two.
Some time later, George revealed the truth to the girls about the farming - being adopted by a white family for money and he admits to the girls that they are Ghanaian, not Jamaican as they had originally believed. This is a shock for the girls but they come to terms with it, and also reveals that Eddie killed George’s actual father, Henry Asare. The next few weeks are a struggle for George and the Knight family as Eddie’s trial is upcoming for the murder. Eventually, Gloria Knight (adoptive grandmother) passes away which impacts George emotionally, causing him to lose most of his motivation. The girls and Elaine try to support him, but there is no hope as he always dismisses them.
George and the family plan to have a memorial for Gloria, after discovering that George was banished from the actual funeral. However, George collapses at this event and is taken to hospital. The Doctor reveals that George has CTE, a brain condition linked to repeated blows to the head. This causes the family to discover that George has been back in the ring secretly, and they are disappointed. The Doctor informs them that one more blow may be fatal. George still has a desperation to fight, despite the support from Anna, Gina, Cindy and Elaine.
They find George at a fight but to their surprise, the opponent is Junior Knight, Anna’s brother. The fight is then called off and both men return to The Vic with injuries. Anna is happy to see her brother again but he doesn’t stick around and quickly wants to head home. However, his family, Monique and Xavier Knight arrive and join the family, Anna and Gina bond with their nephew whilst George and Junior try to make amends. Junior does stick around and moves into The Vic, and they are glad to be a whole family again. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worst when Anna is mugged in the street and her possessions are stolen. George and Cindy look into this but are unsuccessful, instead, the two plan to have a movie night with Anna - but things quickly go from bad to worse when Cindy acts too intimate with George, which causes the girls to fall out with her.
Freddie also returns after a few months away and Anna is delighted to see him, though Bobby shows signs of jealousy. Bobby and Anna then have a date with Freddie as the third-wheel. Not long after, Gina and Felix plan a night out at Peggy’s with Anna. They attend, and as they take a group photo, Anna’s drink is spiked. The effects quickly kick in and she becomes dizzy and sees distorted shapes. Anna goes to the toilet and begins breathing frantically, as she begins to hallucinate and hear sounds which aren’t really there. Felix, Gina and Freddie eventually lose sight of her and panic as she is taken by the Spiker away from Peggy’s and to a black cab. Luckily, her friends save her and instantly get her to hospital, Anna takes some time to go back to normal but when she does, she is distraught and gets upset over what has happened, Freddie and Gina then make a pledge to go to the police. When Anna returns home, she struggles to remember what happened. Gina struggles to get through to her, so Freddie tries and persuades her to go to the police. Anna makes a statement, but doesn't provide much quantity of the situation.
Once Bobby reconnects with Anna, she opens up about the spiking incident, to which Bobby doesn’t understand which agitates Anna, Anna speaks with Freddie, who has a better understanding. After some convincing, Anna also speaks to George about the spiking, who is supportive towards her. Later on, Anna helps Bobby run Beale's Eels but it doesn't go well, they make a mess and serve poor food. Cindy is annoyed over the mess they make.
Fight count
Punches
Total: 1
Individual characters punched: 1
Total punches: 1
Employment history
| Occupation | Years Active |
|---|---|
| Barmaid at an Marbella Knights in Marbella, Spain | Prior to 2022-2023 |
| Barmaid at The Queen Victoria | 2023 to present |
Residence
| Address | Years |
|---|---|
| Marbella, Spain | Prior to 2022-2023 |
| 46 Albert Square | 2023 to present |
Background information
- Anna has been referred to as Annie multiple times. It’s unknown if this is her full name, a nickname or a mistake by the cast.