An unlikely romance was scripted into Mel's narrative when she began dating her boss Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). The pairing has been described as one of "the most unbelievable soap couples", but Outwaite defended it in 1999, saying "I know I've fancied some not particularly attractive men in my time, but I don't think Ian is actually ugly. He has a vulnerable side and that's what is attractive. When he is being all hot-headed and gets above himself then I personally don't like Ian. But when he is being vulnerable I can see the attraction. People talk to me about it all the time. I have taxi drivers telling me I could do much better than Ian. The other day someone shouted that I should go back with former fling Steve Owen. It's incredible, they'd rather went out with [Steve who is a murderer than with who is a hard-working father raising three children." Their relationship was the focus of the storyline that aired to mark the Millennium celebrations, when Ian emotionally blackmailed Mel into marrying him by claiming that his daughter was dying of cancer; storylines in the latter part of 1999 focused on the build-up to a joint Millennium wedding on New Year's Eve 1999 with Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson) and Natalie Evans (Lucy Speed). The wedding went as planned; however, Mel and Ian's marriage ended hours later as the clock struck midnight to signify the beginning of the New Year after Mel discovered Ian's lie. The Millennium Eve episodes drew in 20.89 million viewers – the biggest soap audience since the character Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon) was killed off in "EastEnders" precisely one year earlier (New Year's Eve 1998). An "EastEnders" spokeswoman commented: "This is a remarkable endorsement of the power of "EastEnders" that over 20 million viewers chose to see the Millennium celebrations in Albert Square." The episodes were also broadcast on screens in London's Trafalgar Square, a typical “haunt for New Year's Eve revelers”.