Kelly Taylor (EastEnders)

Kelly Taylor
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Brooke Kinsella
Duration	2001–2004
First appearance	Episode 2218 11 December 2001
Last appearance	Episode 2747/2748 18 June 2004
Introduced by	John Yorke
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Market trader (clothing) Holiday rep

Kelly Taylor is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Brooke Kinsella. The character was introduced by executive producer John Yorke, in 2001. She was only due to appear in eight episodes as part of a prostitution/homelessness storyline featuring Michelle Ryan's established character, Zoe Slater, who had run away from home in late 2001 and was living at the same brothel as Kelly. However, the viewer response to Kelly was positive, so she was reintroduced as a regular at the end of 2002. The character remained in the serial until 2004, when executive producer Louise Berridge decided that her storylines had come to a natural end.

In March 2008 Kinsella said in an interview with Woman magazine that she would love to return to EastEnders at some point but the ball is in the court of the producers.

Kelly first appears on screen in December 2001. She is a young prostitute who is being pimped by the malicious Roxy Drake (Tracy Brabin). She had been thrown out by her family when she was a young girl and Roxy had taken her in off the streets. Kelly felt that she owed her and she had soon been persuaded to act as an underage prostitute for Roxy's clientele. Zoe Slater, another runaway, has also been taken under Roxy's wing and she gives her a place to stay. Here, she meets and befriends Kelly, and on Roxy's instruction, Kelly sets about trying to convince Zoe to prostitute herself too. Zoe refuses to oblige, after which a furious Roxy starts demanding money from her in exchange for her hospitality. On Christmas Day that year, Kelly helps Zoe escape Roxy's evil clutches and Zoe returns to Albert Square, leaving Kelly to face up to a fuming Roxy.

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Wikipedia