Stephanie Scully - Reception

Reception

In June 2002, Steph came first in a poll run by Newsround to find viewers' favourite Neighbours character. She received 34.85% of the vote. At the 2008 Inside Soap Awards, Bonner earned a nomination for Best Actress and the storyline that saw Steph getting jilted at the altar by Toadie was nominated for Best Storyline. The following year, Bonner was nominated for "Sexiest Female". The episode in which Steph and Toadie fabricate a reconciliation to cover story up Steph's infidelity won the Australian Director's Guild Award in 2010. That same year saw Steph voted viewers favourite Neighbours character in a survey carried out by website Yahoo!. Yahoo!'s TV editor, Paul Johnston said: "Steph has beaten some classic soap favourites to take the lead spot as the nation's favourite Neighbours character". Johnston also added "By witnessing her develop from the tomboy with a passion for motorbikes to a loving mother she has been a regular in people's living rooms for over a decade".

A reporter for the Herald Sun placed Steph's discovery of her fiancé and sister's affair at number four on their list of Neighbours Top Ten moments. They said "Steph and Marc had a quick engagement, but in the meantime Marc fell in love with Flick. Flick tried but couldn't hide the fact that she also loved her sister's betrothed. Steph and Marc made it all the way to the alter, but after she said "I do", he replied: "I can't, I'm in love with your sister." Priceless". Robin Oliver writing for The Sydney Morning Herald said he was compelled to watch Steph and Max's wedding, because it was twenty minutes of "good fun". In a feature by Virgin Media dedicated to television "yummy mummies", Steph was placed fifth on the list. Virgin Media said "After several ups and downs and a battle with illness, Neighbours' glam mummy Steph (played by Carla Bonner), gave birth to baby Charlie in 2006".

Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture was negative towards the character, saying "She used to be awesome, way back when the Scully family arrived, but the departure of her whole family, her not-that-convincing relationships with Max and Toadie and her lack of useful storylines have meant she’s felt like a spare part on the street for ages". In July 2010, Deller placed Steph at number five on her list of worst characters of the last seven months. She said "Steph's decline over the past few years has been pretty heartbreaking for those of us who remember the sassy, pretty, smart young woman that she was when the Scully family first arrived on Ramsay Street. Since then, she's had a tedious love life, been miraculously cured of cancer (which in true Neighbours-style could definitely return if she had a baby and could then definitely return again if she had an abortion), been ruined by marriage to the insufferable Max Hoyland (who we still haven't forgiven for murdering CamRob), had an unbelievable romance with best mate Toadie and an even more unbelievable friendship with Libby (when clearly the characters hate each other, and it's more of a 'frenemy' thing)".

In April 2013, a Newcastle Herald reporter commented "As independent Steph Scully, Bonner was a fan favourite, leaving a gaping hole when she was bundled off to jail." They continued that Toadie should watch out because Steph has "a bone to pick with him about how he represented her in court."