He has been labelled a loser and unlucky in love after failed relationships with Jessica Harris (Jennifer Biddall), Beth Clement (Sinéad Moynihan), Cheryl Brady (Bronagh Waugh) and Jem Costello (Helen Russell-Clark).

In 2009, executive producer Lucy Alan made changes to the character and reached a mutual agreement with Quinlan to shave off his hair, which has characterised Gilly during his early years.

BBC America described Gilly on its official website, staying, "His most endearing quality is his honesty and despite his countless flaws, what you see is what you get.

Gilly has been portrayed as a strong supporter of Manchester City F.C., it was this single thing that drew him and Beth Clement (Sinéad Moynihan) together.

[3] Another storyline showing his timid personality was when he was mugged by a group of teenagers[4] and was left fearing for his safety and even let them pick on him on the streets.

[7] During the spin-off he was portrayed having negative experiences with excessive alcohol consumption, of this Quinlan said, "Gilly and Josh had a little fight over Ruby (Danika McGuigan), so the character did change due to all the drink consumed.

His mood changed further when he attempted to run after Josh after the scuffle, and fell down a set of stairs in the nightclub, losing some of his teeth.

To enable continuity the character was scripted a slight speech impediment and behind the scenes Quinlan had a special palette fitted.

It was a real one fitted by dentists and paid for by the show which blacked the character's front teeth and left a chipped one at the side.

Quinlan said that it was quite difficult to speak when wearing it, but praised it as being realistic to have some form of speech impediment having teeth knocked out.

"[10] Speaking of the storyline Quinlan said during an interview with Inside Soap, "I think Gilly's really gutted that he didn't get together with Steph sooner - he wasted so much time with Cheryl and Jem, when really he was in love with her.

[13] Gilly's immediate grief resulted in the characters name trending on Twitter, about which Quinlan said, "So glad that the ep had the impact that was desired!

"[15] Gilly's grief continued to worsen with Quinlan adding, "The poor guy's heading off on a very dark journey that I'm sure he'll live to regret.

"[18] Off-screen, Quinlan was not happy with the fact Gilly was trying to move on quickly, saying, "I thought it was a bit harsh, it feels like it's a little too soon, doesn't it?

"[23] The storyline later takes another turn when Gilly confronts Jacqui in the village with everyone watching, leading everyone to doubt if he did commit the act or not.

[24] It was later revealed that the details were left unclear because Lime Pictures had decided to leave the outcome of the rape trial to viewers.

[26] The chief executive of Lime Pictures, Carolyn Reynolds said, "We wanted to open up the thorny issue of how hard it is to be a juror and whether the court room is the best place to resolve some of these questions about rape.

He sneaks into a Halloween party at HCC, Gilly kisses Jessica Harris (Jennifer Biddall) and assumes the role of her wannabe boyfriend.

This leads to him pretending to be a philosophy student just to get close to her and finds a rival in Mark Jury (Ash Newman), Jessica's real boyfriend.

Any chance of a relationship ends when Gilly reveals Rhys Ashworth (Andrew Moss) slept with her mother, Kathy Barnes (Sarah Jane Buckley).

After Gilly defends Zak Ramsey (Kent Riley) after he is accused of stealing Zoë's belongings, he and Rhys renew their friendship and he moves back into the Ashworths'.

During her battle with anorexia nervosa, Hannah Ashworth (Emma Rigby) and friend, Melissa Hurst (Carla Chases), begin being horrible to Gilly.

Gilly breaks into Simon's house and finds pictures of children in their swimwear, one of whom is Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins).

Gilly proposes to Beth, who agrees to make Rhys, who is in a relationship with Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe), jealous.

Mercedes' sister, Michaela McQueen (Hollie-Jay Bowes), catches Rhys and Beth kissing and tells Gilly, who refuses to believe.

After returning to the village, Gilly begins to develop feelings for Steph Cunningham (Carley Stenson) and is jealous towards her relationship with Fernando Fernandez (Jeronimo Best).

When the pair see restaurant Il Gnosh on fire, Gilly rings for help whilst Steph runs into the burning building to save Amy Barnes (Ashley Slanina-Davies) and her children.

After Rhys tries to comfort him, Gilly goes into Steph's room and trashes it after seeing that she has still kept her photo of her and her husband, Max Cunningham (Matt Littler), on their wedding day, placed on a table.

Jacqui comforts Cheryl as she sobs on the steps outside her flat, while Gilly and Rhys share one final look goodbye before he leaves the village forever.

"[31] She praised Paul Marquess's cast cull of 2010, but said that Gilly is "still hanging around like that bit of dog mess you can’t get out of the grooves in your trainers".