Kelly Taylor (EastEnders)

Kelly Taylor was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Brooke Kinsella.

Kelly had a troubled youth, forced to grow up on the streets and sell her body to get by. She finally found some stability in Walford and made a true friend in Zoe Slater.

History
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 was the only person to take her in, so Kelly felt she owed her. Zoe Slater, who had run away from home, had met Roxy and had been taken under her wing and given 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.

Men in Walford
On New Years 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 advances. In order to buy into the stall, Kelly stole 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 Spencer a night to remember by taking his virginity. However, soon after, Spencer's brother, Alfie, managed to upset things by offering Kelly money to take Spencer out. 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, Zoe had a crush on him. Zoe proceeded to get drunk in The Queen Vic one night and began bad-mouthing Kelly to her mother Kat, saying if it wasn't for her she would still be on the game. However, Ronny's best friend, Tariq Larousi, overheard their conversation and he forced Zoe to inform Ronny about Kelly's past. When Ronny discovered this, he was disgusted, and cruelly dumped Kelly, which left her devesated. Kelly was furious when she discovered that it was Zoe who blabbed, and accused her of doing it so she could get her hands on Ronny. After much arguing, Zoe eventually promised not to go near 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. Despite her past promise, Zoe ended up going behind Kelly's back and she started dating Ronny, which caused major rows between the girls. Later on Kelly witnessed Ronny kissing another woman, but Zoe refused to believe her best-friend and accused her of stirring being jealous and then threw her out of their flat. Kelly then decided to forget her woes and went clubbing in Angies Den, only to collapse later after taking some dodgy E, 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 then forced to remain quiet about Tariq providing her the dodgy E, after he threatened to tell everyone about her sordid past unless she kept her mouth shut.

A friendly Kiss
On New Years Eve 2003, Kelly and Zoe went to Scotland for a all night rave along with the other youths in Walford. However disaster struck when the mini bus they were driving crashed in the middle of the scottish moors leaving them stranded and injured. Out of them all, 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, whilst Kelly relayed how happy she was to have a friend like Zoe and how meeting her had changed her life. As the night wore on, Zoe began to lose consciousness and Kelly was frantic as she feared she was dying. Kelly got tearful and over emotional, as did Zoe, and in the heat of the moment they both kissed. The following day, Zoe was reluctant to discuss the kiss. Zoe spent a few days in hosiptal and upon her release she became distant from Kelly. She left in 2004 to be a holiday rep in Ibiza, breaking up with Spencer.