Phil gives Hattie Tavernier (Michelle Gayle) a lift to Southampton so she can stop her boyfriend, Steve Elliot (Mark Monero), from leaving the country. Phil waits for her in a nearby bar and meets Nadia. Nadia is a Romanian refugee who came over to England to be with her boyfriend, Marku (Ravil Isyanov) – another immigrant, who has been able to stay in the UK due to a marriage of convenience with an English woman. Nadia is sure that she will be deported. Feeling sorry for her, Phil agrees to marry her so she can stay in the country. He brings her to Walford and they marry on 8 July 1993. Nadia then leaves to live with her boyfriend. Nadia returns in November, needing Phil to play her husband in more realistic ways to prevent her from being deported. While she has been away, Phil has started dating Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and has not told Kathy about Nadia. When he does tell Kathy, she takes an instant dislike to Nadia. Nadia persuades Phil to allow her to move in with him while the home office investigate and convinces the representative that the relationship is legitimate. However, she does not tell Phil this so he feels that he has no choice but to let her live with him.