| Character Profile | List of appearances |
Bobby Riley Costello is the son of Riley Costello and Mercedes McQueen. He is also the half brother of Phoenix Costello, Gabriel, Maria-Gabriella and Maria-Carmela McQueen.
Bobby was conceived in 2011 when Mercedes was having an affair with Riley's father Carl, leading to Bobby's paternity initially being a mystery. After the affair was revealed, Carl's father-in-law Silas Blissett held Mercedes captive in The Dog in the Pond cellar, waiting for her to give birth so he could strangle her. However, Silas was arrested and Mercedes was rescued.
After Riley's death and Mercedes's arrest in October 2012, Mercedes's mother Myra McQueen agreed with Carl that Bobby should live with him in California. After Carl developed alcoholism, Mercedes took him back to the village. Carl was murdered by Breda McQueen in 2018 and Bobby lived with Mercedes full-time.
Bobby struggled with Mercedes's self-destructive nature and unstable love life and gradually became obsessed with protecting her. After Mercedes's husband Sylver McQueen planned to leave her, Bobby left him to die in the Salon de Thé de Marnie Explosion. When Silas returned to take Bobby and kill Mercedes, Bobby killed him by pushing him onto his life-size electric chess-board during a power surge.
In December 2022, after discovering that Verity Hutchinson had been looking into his crimes, Bobby murdered her and seemingly got away with the crime however after an arson attack on Price Slice, Felix Westwood had Bobby arrested. Confessing to his crimes, he was sentenced to a juvenile detention centre where he currently resides.
Biography[]
2011: Conception and Birth[]
Bobby was conceived in 2011, around the time his mother Mercedes McQueen was having an affair with Carl Costello - meaning that Bobby's father was either Carl, or his son and Mercedes's fiancé Riley Costello. Mercedes initially lied that she was pregnant to stop Riley's brother Seth Costello from exposing her affair, and discovered that she was really pregnant after being hospitalised from falling from the stage at The Loft.
After Carl and Mercedes's affair was revealed in October 2011, Riley's maternal grandfather Silas Blissett held Mercedes captive in the cellar of The Dog in the Pond, intending to kill her after Bobby's birth. Silas was apprehended for several murders and Riley found and rescued Mercedes, who had gone into labour. Mercedes gave birth to a son, and Bobby was confirmed as Riley's son through a DNA test.
2012-2013: Riley's Death and Move to U.S.[]
As Riley began a relationship with Mitzeee Minniver, Mercedes began interfering with their relationship in an attempt to get them to separate. After winning Riley back by framing Mitzeee for attempted murder, Mercedes had her adoptive niece Phoebe McQueen look after Bobby in a secret apartment so that she could convince Riley that Bobby had been kidnapped. After the truth was revealed, Mercedes took Bobby to the apartment roof where she threatened to jump with Bobby in her arms. Riley managed to talk her down and Mercedes was arrested. However, Riley was killed merely days later after being shot during a scuffle between Simon Walker and Brendan Brady.
A grief-stricken Carl decided to return to California, and that Bobby would be better off with him. After battling with the McQueens, Carl managed to convince Myra McQueen that he could give Bobby a better life. She agreed to let Bobby leave with Carl and, who took him to California in October 2012. Carl returned with Bobby in January 2013, but the pair returned to California with Mitzeee in February.
2018-2021: Life with the McQueens[]
Bobby was kidnapped by Mercedes and brought back to England in July 2018. Carl ended up battling an alcohol addiction, so Mitzeee helped Mercedes take Bobby from Carl. Carl returned to the village to get Bobby back, but was killed (later revealed to be by Breda McQueen). After his death, Mercedes was granted custody of Bobby. Mercedes reunited with Sylver McQueen after his release from prison in 2018, and Bobby and Sylver became close. Sylver became Bobby's step-father when Mercedes and Sylver married in March 2019. In the same year, Bobby was accepted into a school for gifted children after Mercedes convinced the admissions officer to give him a chance.
In October 2020, the McQueen family were blackmailed by an initially unknown blackmailer - later revealed to be Bobby's paternal great-grandfather Silas Blissett. When Bobby returned from Alicante in January 2021, Silas collected him from the airport but Mercedes managed to get him back. However, Bobby had already bonded with Silas over learning how to play chess, and secretly kept in contact with him.
With the arrival of Sylver's daughter Cher Winters in June 2020, Cher became jealous as Sylver prioritised Mercedes over her. Cher conspired to split Sylver and Mercedes by making Mercedes appear mentally unstable, which Bobby discovered. Bobby created a false identity, "Jade", and befriended Cher on social media in an attempt to stop her from ruining Mercedes's life. "Jade" encouraged Cher to spike Mercedes's punch as revenge for her affair with Cher's boyfriend Romeo Nightingale, which Sylver drank and suffered a cardiac arrest. In the aftermath, Cher attempted suicide but survived.
2021-2023: Corrupted by Silas[]
After Bobby was revealed to be "Jade", Sylver and Mercedes took him to Alicante in an attempt to reunite the family, with Cher opting to stay behind. Upon the family's return, Bobby was increaingly unhappy at home and Mercedes was alarmed to discover that Bobby was looking into going into foster care. In January 2022, Sylver left the village, which Bobby overheard from Mercedes and Cher whilst hiding behind the Salon de Thé de Marnie counter. The building later exploded and Sylver - who had returned after receiving a video call from Cher - attempted to rescue Bobby. However, he was crushed by falling debris and Bobby escaped, lying that he did not see Sylver. Sylver ended up dying in the disaster.
Mercedes found a conversation between Bobby and "G" on a chess app on his tablet. When confronted, Bobby claimed that he was speaking with his aunt Gwendolyn Blissett, so Mercedes invited her to help Bobby through his struggles. Wendy - however - was working with Silas to take Bobby from the McQueens. Mercedes learned of Wendy's plan to make her seem like an unfit mother so Bobby would live with her, but failed to win Bobby back over until Wendy's death in a car accident in June 2022, which left Bobby devastated.
In September 2022, Silas returned to the village to get Bobby himself, deciding to taunt and kill as many of the McQueens as possible. Silas snuck into The Cage to retrieve Bobby, murdering D.S. Lexi Calder as he escaped to The Folly. After the power went out as Silas attempted to play life-sized chess with the family, Bobby decided to leave with Mercedes. When the board had a power surge, Bobby purposefully pushed Silas onto it, causing Silas to be electrocuted to death. Mercedes was horrified by her son's actions but, intent on protecting him, fled the village with him.
When Bobby returned in December 2022, Goldie McQueen got to work with Verity Hutchinson to build a case against the young lad to have him put away for his crimes. Determined to stop the lawyer in her tracks, Bobby hit Verity over the head with a book and left her injured under a bookshelf. Verity died of her injuries and her death was ruled an accident, allowing the youngster to get away with his actions once more.
Luck ran out for Bobby at Christmastime when he turned on Felix Westwood for calling him "son". Following Felix to Price Slice, Bobby intended to lock him in the storeroom and start a fire outside. However, unbeknownst to Bobby, Felix had already gone back to the McQueens and DeMarcus Westwood was in the room instead. Prince and Felix saved DeMarcus and John Paul and Goldie discovered that Bobby started the fire after watching back CCTV footage. Goldie gave the footage to Felix, who tipped off the police, resulting in Bobby's arrest.
Bobby confessed to his crimes and was sentenced to a juvenile detention centre. He blamed Mercedes for everything and wrote her a letter making clear that he never wanted to see her again, although Warren Fox managed to convince him to change his mind and meet with her a few months later. Then, in July 2023, Bobby was beaten up. Lacey Lloyd agreed to help Mercedes build a case for her local MP to have Bobby moved children's homes, although this backfired when a feud between the McQueens and James Nightingale resulted in James having Bobby transferred to a detention centre in Devon. In November 2023, Bobby was further transferred to Plymouth after a fight at the Devon institution.
Kill Count[]
Murders[]
- Silas Blissett, 29th September 2022 - Pushed Silas onto his electrified chess-board during a power surge.
- Verity Hutchinson, 7th December 2022 - Hit over the head with a book and then died of her injuries after Bobby pushed a book-shelf onto her.
Attempted Murders[]
- Felix Westwood, 25th December 2022 - Attempted to lock him in the store cupboard of Price Slice before starting a fire, but mistook DeMarcus Westwood for Felix and ended up trapping him. DeMarcus was rescued by Prince McQueen.
Appendices[]
Residences[]
Employment History[]
None
Background Information[]
- Bobby was axed by series producer Emma Smithwick as actors Paul Opacic and Rachel Shenton departed from their roles as Carl Costello and Mitzeee Minniver. Bobby was brought back by executive producer Bryan Kirkwood in 2018, with the role recasted to Jayden Fox.
Introduction Sequence[]
- 2018-2019: Bobby sings karaoke with Sally and Nana.
- 2019-2022: Bobby flosses while dancing with Sylver and Mercedes.
- 2022: Bobby smiles as he and Cher are showered with confetti.
- 2022-2023: Bobby stands behind a clothing rack and smiles as he watches the chaos ensuing at the bazaar.
