Steve Marchant in Emmerdale was the second husband of Dales vixen Kim Tate.
She hit it off with Steve when he arrived in the village as an old university friend of Kim’s stepdaughter-in-law Rachel Hughes (who was then Rachel Tate).
Though at first Steve wanted to rekindle his old spark with Rachel, when he found out she was married to Chris Tate that romance didn’t get off the ground.
But when Frank Tate died, leaving Kim a widow, she and Steve found common ground – mostly in their love for being manipulative and scheming.
They became romantically involved and in 1998 they tied the knot.
What happened to Steve?
Not long after the newly weds had got married, they were shocked to discover they were in dire financial straits thanks to a dodgy business deal.
In an effort to get some money back in their account, Steve tried to steal a horse from one of Kim’s business rivals.
But as with all good soap plots, things went wrong and Steve ended up running over Kathy Glover and leaving her to die.
When she started to recover Steve worried she was going to spill the beans about who’d hit her and in a desperate attempt to shut her up, he went to the hospital and put a pillow over her head. Luckily Kim stopped him in the nick of time!
Later Steve pleaded guilty in court to horse theft and obtaining money by deception, but not guilty to attempted murder.
Kim meanwhile pleaded not guilty to her part in the crimes.
Kim’s escape
As the trial began, Kathy discovered that Kim had been involved with Steve’s wrongdoings and changed her statement. Steve thought that meant Kim would go to prison and he’d be let off the hook.
But the night before the verdict, sneaky Kim fled the village in a helicopter with her toddler son James.
In her absence Kim was found guilty of theft and obtaining money by deception receiving 12 months to each charge, but she had fled.
Meanwhile Steve was sentenced to 10 years for attempted murder for Kathy’s hit and run.
He’d be out of jail by now, though, and fans would love to see him back in the Dale. When Kim was being poisoned – by son Jamie as we know now – many viewers even speculated that her tormentor could have been Steve, back for revenge on his ex-wife!
Who played Steve Marchant in Emmerdale
Steve Marchant in Emmerdale was played by Paul Opacic.
Since he left the village, Paul’s starred in many television dramas. He played Mark Waddle in Bad Girls, and also appeared in Doctors, Holby City and Waterloo Road.
Paul also took on the role of Carl Costello in Hollyoaks, and Hollyoaks Later in 2010. Carl’s been back to Hollyoaks a few times, most recently in 2018 when he was murdered by serial killer Breda McQueen.
Stefan Brent in Coronation Street
Now Paul is playing Stefan Brent in Corrie. He’s the dad of killer Corey Brent, who beat Seb Franklin to death. Stefan is a smooth operator and seems to be in control of Corey’s trial. But will the Brents get their comeuppance?
Read more: Coronation Street fan theory suggests Sabeen is dating Corey’s dad Stefan
With the trial nearly over it’s possible Stefan’s time on the cobbles is coming to an end. So could Steve Marchant be heading back to Emmerdale? Anything’s possible!
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