Belle Taylor

Belle Taylor is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Jessica Tovey.

Belle's storylines included finding her birth mother, a drug addiction, her relationship with Aden Jefferies and being diagnosed with cancer.

She added "It was hard not to feel intimidated and nervous about joining the cast, this was really my first television role, so it was a huge step".

[2] Belle's parents were shocked to discover their daughter was rejecting their conservative lifestyle and hanging out with the wrong crowd.

[3] Tovey explained that her character comes to Summer Bay shortly after learning that she was adopted, as her birth mother lives nearby.

A homeless Belle befriends Ric Dalby (Mark Furze) and he agrees to let her stay in his bedroom, though he keeps her presence a secret from his foster parents, and tells her that someone in the house is sick.

[4] Belle is soon discovered by Ric's girlfriend Cassie Turner (Sharni Vinson), who Tovey said is "a bit shocked, as you can imagine!

While Sally is sympathetic, she tells Ric that Belle cannot stay as her husband Flynn Saunders (Joel McIlroy) has cancer.

Tovey told an Inside Soap columnist that Ric just tells Belle to go without explaining why, so she "doesn't realise why it's such a big deal" and sneaks back in later on.

[5] The storyline meant Tovey had to spend weeks crying and shouting, but she said that she was determined to do a good job and worked hard on the scenes.

Her painkiller addiction is discovered by her boyfriend, Aden Jefferies (Todd Lasance), after he gives her a necklace and she sells it to buy more drugs.

[8] She also commented that Aden questions everything Belle ever told him and realises that she is no longer the person he fell in love with.

[8] Tovey thought that fans of the couple should be worried as there seemed to be no way to get through the situation, as Belle's addiction had worn them both "down to their bare bones.

[9] Tovey said she found filming her final scenes "heartbreaking", but she said that she was happy with the writers' decision to kill off the character.

Belle begins spending time with Ric and she kisses him in front of his girlfriend, Cassie Turner.

Amanda tries to help Belle win Ric back and relations between mother and daughter thaw.

One night, Belle accepts a lift home and is kidnapped by her aunt, Kelli Vale (Alexa Ashton).

Belle mistakenly thinks that Drew slept with Lisa Duffy (Jessica McNamee) and she sleeps with Lucas.

Belle tries to talk Drew out of drag racing with Lisa and Dom Moran (Sam North), but he does not listen.

Belle is offered a job helping Leah Patterson-Baker (Ada Nicodemou) set up The Den.

While drunk one night, Aden climbs through Belle's bedroom window and she makes him sleep on the floor.

A man named Murray Buchanan (Ben Tari) contacts Belle and tells her that the council is in on a plan to build on a toxic waste dump site.

Belle asks Angelo to look into Murray's accounts and they discover that thousands of dollars have been paid to him by the council.

Belle's car is run off the road and the evidence that the toxic waste site causes cancer is stolen.

When Belle helps Leah out in the kitchen, Kane Phillips's (Sam Atwell) car hits the building, leaving her trapped and fighting for her life.

For her portrayal of Belle, Tovey received a nomination for Most Popular New Female Talent at the 2007 Logie Awards.

She might look like a stiff wind would blow her over but it's not every girl who can tolerate being called a skank by her teenage boyfriend and still come back for more, but she did.

She's spent the past weeks driving us up the wall with her whingeing, while at the same time gobbling any pills she can get her hands on.

"[20] Another writer for the Daily Record commented on Belle's last scenes, noting that she "managed to make it to death's door without losing her looks".

[21] Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture said she had grown fond of Belle and Aden as a couple in 2009.