Steve Marchant is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Paul Opacic. He made his first on-screen appearance on 26 March 1996. Opacic originally auditioned for the role of Sean Rossi, before he was cast as Steve for an initial six-episode stint, and was introduced as a former university friend of Rachel Hughes (Glenda McKay). Series producer Kieran Roberts decided to write the character out in 1998, and Opacic made his final appearance on 20 January 1999. Later that year, Steve was named one of "The 30 greatest Emmerdale residents" by Inside Soap.