The character's early stories focus on her relationships with her parents, Karen and Mitch Baker (Roger Griffiths), and a feud with Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) after moving into her former home.

[1] To achieve this, the story was not announced prior to transmission and the first portrayed attack also marks the first time viewers see inside the family home.

[2] Sophie Dainty of Digital Spy praised Plummer's "astonishing" portrayal of her character's "agonising and unforgettable final scenes".

Kate Oates, the show's senior executive producer, stated that Chantelle's arrival would "complete" the Taylor family and added, "Things are set to get a whole lot louder in Walford in 2019.

[11] Plummer initially felt pressure to join the established Taylor family as she wanted to portray Chantelle as "the long-lost sister".

[16] Chantelle joins the soap alongside her "successful" husband Gray, who is a solicitor, and their "lively" young children Mia and Mackenzie.

[9] Katie Baillie of the Metro wondered whether Chantelle would help Keegan with his struggles and how she would react to her new half-sister, Bailey Baker (Kara-Leah Fernandes).

[11] Prior to her arrival, Mitch and Denise Fox (Diane Parish) battle to open their own salon using funding from Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker).

[25] The pair clash again while giving Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White) a hairdo, but when Denise is forced to intervene, neither Chantelle nor Kim are prepared to explain themselves.

[1] The storyline was not announced prior to transmission and Gray's first seen attack on Chantelle also marks the first time that viewers have seen inside the family's home.

[1] She added that Chantelle is presented as "strong and capable" with a good support network, but still believes that she cannot reveal her abuse, which she sees as "a shameful secret".

[1] Sandra Horley, the chief executive of Refuge, praised the soap for exploring the "insidious issue", while Teresa Parker, the head of communications for Women's Aid, expressed her delight at working with EastEnders on the storyline.

Smith felt that the pregnancy encourages Gray to "reshape his values and beliefs" and change his attitude, but it also depends on "whether he can lose that entitlement".

[32] The actor told Inside Soap's Laura-Jayne Tyler that it is alarming that "it's taken something quite intrinsic in terms of having another child to encourage him to get therapy, rather than it being self-motivated".

Plummer did not find out when she would leave until she received her scripts for the show's return, but was pleased that her exit features in the first episodes to air after the break.

[50] Plummer felt it was important to announce the story development ahead of time due to the sensitive nature of the plot and did not believe that it lessened the impact of her character's death.

[3] She expressed her gratitude at playing the character,[50] but highlighted the importance of telling the story, so that other women were able to recognise their situations and leave before this happened to them too.

[54] EastEnders continued their work with Women's Aid and Refuge when researching the story, which reflected statistics in domestic violence during lockdown.

[55] Parker and Lisa King, the director of communications and external relations at Refuge, praised the EastEnders team for their work on the story.

[50] Following criticism that the story may discourage victims of domestic abuse from leaving, Parker told Dainty (Digital Spy) that it is a realistic conclusion supported by research and wanted it to create "important conversations".

[53] Reflecting on the entire story, Plummer opined that they had covered many ways which Gray is abusive towards Chantelle and acknowledged that "not one single bit of his behaviour has been acceptable".

[57] Appearing on EastEnders: Secrets from the Square, the actress told presenter Stacey Dooley that Chantelle finally realises that Gray's behaviour will not change, so she finds her "inner Taylor" and decides to escape her marriage.

[65] Johnathon Hughes of the Radio Times called Chantelle "the much talked-about, but hitherto-unseen, eldest offspring of the rowdy Taylor clan".

[68] Angie Quinn of MyLondon described the character as "sassy" and "pretty", and enjoyed the "hilarious" banter between Chantelle, Denise, Kim and Karen in her early episodes.

[58] On the reveal of the story, an Inside Soap reporter wrote, "Just when we were starting to believe that Chantelle and Gray were the perfect couple, the discovery of what really goes on behind their front door has knocked us for six.

[76] Daily Mirror reporter Kyle O'Sullivan labelled the plot "powerful yet uncomfortable" and thought that Gray's attacks on Chantelle were "horrifying" and "distressing".

"[78] In June 2020, Smith revealed that Women's Aid had experienced a rise in calls with people relating to Chantelle and Gray's abuse story.

[43] Hughes (Radio Times) opined that there was "bags of potential" for the domestic abuse story following the show's return to transmission, with links to the national lockdown.

"[79] David Brown, writing for the Metro, also thought it would be good to explore domestic abuse in lockdown using the characters of Chantelle and Gray.

[3] She praised the "astonishing" performances of Plummer in the episode as she portrayed "agonising and unforgettable final scenes" of Chantelle, and recognised that it was "an undeniably difficult watch".