Minty Peterson
| Minty Peterson | |||||||
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| Duration | 2002— | ||||||
| First appearance | 11 March 2002 | ||||||
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Richard "Rick" Peterson (better known by his nickname, Minty) is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. He is played by Cliff Parisi, and made his first appearance on 11 March 2002.
His nickname was given to him because he was always late for work, turning up "after eight" when he was an apprentice mechanic.
Storylines
Minty was introduced as the unsympathetic landlord of Janine Butcher and Laura Beale. Laura asked Phil Mitchell to have a word with Minty about his frequent demands for rent but the two turned out to be old friends.
In November 2003, Phil was arrested for armed robbery and he asked Minty to look after his sister, Sam, who was in charge of Phil's various business interests. Minty fell in love with Sam, however, he was unable to stop her from beginning a relationship with Andy Hunter, whose real agenda was to gain control of all Sam's family's assets. Minty tried on several occasions to stop Sam marrying Andy, even proposing to her himself, but to no avail. Minty was proved right about Andy, and Sam stayed with him when he evicted her from their house for losing her family's wealth.
Minty moved into a flat with fellow mechanic Garry Hobbs. They became good friends; however, problems developed in 2006, when Minty fell for Australian stripper SJ Fletcher. Minty was extremely keen on SJ and didn't seem to mind that she rarely paid her own way, but Garry began to feel pushed aside; a certain level of animosity arose whenever SJ was around. Garry became infuriated with SJ manipulating Minty out of all his money, and found her little more than a user. Minty would pay SJ's rent, continuously buy her gifts and drinks, gave her money and took her out to dinner. Garry also suspected SJ of sleeping with her visitor Sid, a fellow Australian. SJ denied the allegation, claiming that Sid was her brother, which satisfied Minty; however, SJ was deceiving him and Sid was actually her boyfriend. Sid and SJ constructed a plan to keep Minty keen on SJ so they could continue to pilfer all his money. SJ flirted and led Minty on, but to Minty's frustration, the relationship never went further. Nevertheless, Minty believed that there was a possibility he and SJ could eventually be together, so he continued to ply her with money. When Minty began to tire of her games, SJ changed tact and finally committed to a relationship with him. The relationship was a sham, as SJ was still seeing Sid, but Minty became infatuated with SJ, ruining his friendship with Garry and temporarily losing his job at the arches in the process; what little money he made was quickly squandered by SJ. Her games were eventually uncovered when Minty, on Garry's instruction, caught her in bed with Sid. She fled the following day, leaving Minty devastated.
When Garry's mother Hazel came to Walford in April 2007, Minty was attracted to her. Garry was furious, so Minty began seeing Hazel in secret; however, Garry caught them together in Brighton and was outraged, but Minty and Hazel refused to stop dating. When Minty found Garry's engagement ring and bent down on one knee to pick it up, Hazel assumed he was proposing and immediately accepted. The wedding plans went ahead with encouragement from Heather Trott, who entered them into a bride and groom magazine competition so they could win their dream wedding. Hazel and Minty were selected as finalists, but in January 2008 the couple faced an upset after Hazel revealed to Minty that she was pregnant. Minty was overjoyed, but it turned out that the hormonal change ocurring to Hazel was actually the menopause, meaning she would never have another child. Sensing Minty's disappointment, Hazel decided to leave him so he could find another woman to give him a child. Minty became depressed and morose, but Heather convinced him to go through with the wedding so they could claim the competition's cash prize. Heather pretended to be Hazel, and she and Minty bonded as they spent time together. Heather soon developed feelings for Minty. In April 2008, Hazel returned and proposed to Minty, asking him to go on a luxury cruise. Minty, however, did not want to leave his friends, so he proposed to Heather and married her.