Storylines
Kelly first appeared on screen in December 2001. She was a young prostitute who was being pimped by the malicious Roxy Drake. 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 she owed her and she had soon been persuaded to act as an underage prostitute for Roxy's clientele. Zoe Slater, another runaway, had also been taken under Roxy's wing and she gave her a place to stay. Here, she met and befriended Kelly, and on Roxy's instruction, Kelly set about trying to convince Zoe to prostitute herself too. Zoe refused to oblige, after which a furious Roxy started demanding money from her in exchange for her hospitality. On Christmas Day that year, Kelly helped Zoe escape Roxy's evil clutches and Zoe returned to Albert Square, leaving Kelly to face up to a fuming Roxy.
Kelly was next seen in August 2002 when Zoe ran away from home for a second time, following her father's heart attack. She and Zoe decided to leave England and went to stay in Tenerife with one of Kelly's rich punters. In December that year, Zoe returned to Walford and brought Kelly back with her. She took up lodging with the rest of the Slaters and was soon welcomed in as part of the family. Now that she'd given up prostitution, Kelly was strapped for cash, so Zoe decided that she should become a partner in her clothing stall, and the two ran it together in Bridge Street market.
On New Year's Eve, Kelly set her sights on the inexperienced Spencer Moon and the two shared a kiss. This led Spencer to imagine that something more serious was on the cards and he adorned Kelly with gifts and flowers in the hope that she would agree to date him. However, it was just a bit of fun for Kelly and she rebuffed all his further advances.
In order to buy into the stall, Kelly had stolen money from her ex-punter, Simon, and in January 2002 he showed up demanding that she pay him back. When she couldn't repay, he threatened her with the police, so Kelly conned Spencer into giving her money and also stole money from the stall to raise the funds. Zoe soon discovered that the money was missing, so Kelly blamed Spencer and then fled. When the truth finally came out, Zoe managed to talk Kelly out of leaving Walford and she quickly forgave her. Spencer decided to give up on Kelly after this, but on the night of his 18th birthday in April, Kelly decided to give him a night to remember by taking his virginity. Spencer was ecstatic, but his brother, Alfie, managed to upset things by offering Kelly money to take Spencer out for a second date. Kelly wrongly assumed that Alfie knew about her past as a prostitute and furiously accused Spencer of trying to buy her body, which put a halt on their potential relationship.
Later in the year, Kelly and Zoe decided to move out of the Slaters' and share a flat on their own. At their flat warming party, Kelly got friendly with new Walford arrival Ronny Ferreira. This upset Zoe because unbeknown to Kelly, she had a crush on him and she proceeded to get drunk in The Queen Vic one night and began bad-mouthing Kelly to her mother Kat, maliciously bringing up her past as a prostitute for all to hear. Ronny's best friend, Tariq Larousi, overheard their conversation and he forced Zoe to inform Ronny about Kelly's past. Ronny was disgusted, and cruelly dumped Kelly, which left her devastated. Kelly was furious when she discovered that it was Zoe who had blabbed, and accused her of doing it to get her hands on Ronny. After much arguing, Zoe eventually promised not to make a play for Ronny, as their friendship was more important. However, with Ronny now showing a keen interest in Zoe, she was finding it difficult to shun his attention. A few weeks later at Martin Fowler's birthday party, Kelly decided to make a move on Martin to make Ronny jealous. Ronny wasn't interested and only had eyes for Zoe. Kelly ended the night in bed with Martin, feeling hurt and rejected and despite her past promise, Zoe ended up going behind Kelly's back to date Ronny, which caused major rows between the girls.
Later in the year, Kelly witnessed Ronny kissing another woman, but Zoe refused to believe her best friend, accused her of being jealous and threw her out of their flat. That night, a hurt Kelly decided to forget her woes and went clubbing in Angie's Den, only to collapse later after taking some dodgy ecstasy (which was provided by Tariq). Kelly's brush with death made Zoe realise how much she valued their friendship and she immediately dumped Ronny. Kelly was forced to remain quiet about Tariq providing her the drug, after he threatened to tell everyone about her sordid past unless she kept her mouth shut.
On New Year's Eve 2003, Kelly and Zoe went to Scotland for an all-night rave along with the other youths in Walford. Whilst on the way to their destination, disaster struck when the mini bus they were driving crashed in the middle of the Scottish moors, leaving them stranded and injured. Zoe was hurt the worst, and whilst the others all went in search of help, Kelly stayed by the wreck with her injured friend to care for her. The weather was bitterly cold and the two huddled together to keep warm. A concerned Kelly relayed to Zoe how happy she was to have her as a friend and how meeting her had changed her life. As the night wore on, Zoe began to lose consciousness, and Kelly became frantic, fearing that Zoe was dying. Kelly became tearful and overemotional, as did Zoe, and in the heat of the moment, they kissed. The following day the stranded teenagers were rescued, but Zoe was reluctant to discuss the kiss with Kelly. Zoe spent a few days in hospital and upon her release, she became distant from Kelly, refusing to spend any time alone with her. Eventually, Kelly managed to get Zoe to talk and they both decided they weren't lesbians and that the kiss only happened because they believed they were going to die. Soon after, Zoe moved out of their flat as she could no longer afford the rent. Gus Smith came to live there in her place, but the girls remained close friends and working partners.
In May 2004, Vicki Fowler decided to play match-maker and attempted to set Kelly and Spencer up on several dates. Each attempt failed miserably so she decided to lock them both in the office at Angie's Den, taking both their phones so they had to spend the night in there together. They initially started to argue. Kelly told Spencer she only slept with him a year earlier out of pity and Spencer insulted Kelly about her sordid past. However, as the night wore on, the two began talking, and when Vicki finally came to let them out, she was overjoyed to find them kissing.
The couple remained happy for a while and it seemed that Spencer and Kelly were smitten with each other. During the summer, Kelly, Spencer and Kareena Ferreira decided they wanted to become holiday reps in Ibiza. Kelly found an article in a magazine promoting 'Red Hot Holiday' and the trio got ready for their interviews. Kelly and Kareena passed with flying colours but Spencer didn't so he was forced to stay behind while Kelly went away. On the day of her departure, Kelly told Spencer she loved him, which he reciprocated, and after a tearful farewell, Kelly promised she'd be back after the summer.
Spencer waited for Kelly to return, but by the end of the summer, Kareena had returned and there was no sign of Kelly. Eventually, Kareena told Spencer that she'd met another man and was not coming back. Kelly's last appearance was in June 2004. When Zoe left Walford in 2005, she allegedly went to Spain to join Kelly.
Read more about this topic: Kelly Taylor (East Enders)