Kelly Taylor is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Brooke Kinsella.

She was only due to appear in eight episodes as part of a prostitution/homelessness storyline featuring Michelle Ryan's established character, Zoe Slater, who had run away from home in late 2001 and was living at the same brothel as Kelly.

The character remained in the serial until 2004, when executive producer Louise Berridge decided that her storylines had come to a natural end.

In March 2008, Kinsella said in an interview with Woman magazine that she would love to return to EastEnders at some point, but the ball is in the court of the producers.

Now that she has given up prostitution, Kelly has no money, so Zoe decides that she should become a partner in her clothing stall, and the two run it together in Bridge Street market.

On New Year's Eve, Kelly sets her sights on the inexperienced Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker) and the two share a kiss.

This leads Spencer to imagine that something more serious will happen between them, and he adorns Kelly with gifts and flowers in the hope that she will agree to date him.

In order to buy into the stall, Kelly had stolen money from her ex-punter, Simon, and in January 2003 he shows up demanding that she pay him back.

Kelly wrongly assumes that Alfie knows about her past as a prostitute and furiously accuses Spencer of trying to buy her body, which puts a halt on their potential relationship.

At their flat warming party, Kelly gets friendly with new Walford arrival Ronny Ferreira (Ray Panthaki).

Later in the year, Kelly witnessed Ronny kissing another woman, but Zoe refused to believe her best friend, accused her of being jealous and threw her out of their flat.

That night, a hurt Kelly decided to forget her woes and went clubbing in Angie's Den, only to collapse later after taking some dodgy ecstasy (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 forced to remain quiet about Tariq providing her the drug, after he threatened to tell everyone about her sordid past unless she kept her mouth shut.

Whilst on the way to their destination, disaster strikes when the mini bus they are driving crashes in the middle of the Scottish moors, leaving them stranded and injured.

Eventually, Kelly manages to get Zoe to talk and they both decide they aren't lesbians and that the kiss only happened because they believed they were going to die.

Gus Smith (Mohammed George) comes to live there in her place, but the girls remain close friends and working partners.

In May 2004, Vicki Fowler (Scarlett Alice Johnson) decides to play match-maker and attempts to set Kelly and Spencer up on several dates.

Each attempt fails miserably so she decides to lock them both in the office at Angie's Den, taking both their phones so they have to spend the night in there together.

During the summer, Kelly, Spencer and Kareena Ferreira (Pooja Shah) decide they want to become holiday reps in Ibiza.

Kelly was introduced on a short-term basis as part of a storyline that saw the regular character, Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), living rough on the streets of London and being taken in by a madam of a prostitution organisation, Roxy Drake (Tracy Brabin).

In the past, Kinsella had auditioned for the parts of Janine Butcher, Zoe Slater and Sonia Fowler, but had been unsuccessful.

"[1] The character was only brought in to appear in eight episodes, however the producers were impressed with Kinsella's performance and there was a positive reception from viewers, so she was asked to return to the role the following year.

In the British press, Kelly and Zoe were compared to two former popular characters, who also shared a close screen friendship, Bianca Butcher (Patsy Palmer) and Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon).

In December 2003, EastEnders made headlines in the UK press, after they screened a lesbian kiss between Kelly and Zoe.

In the storyline, a group of teenagers had travelled from London to Scotland for New Year's Eve; however, the minibus they were driving crashed, leaving them stranded and injured on the freezing cold Scottish moors.

Kinsella has explained the reasons behind the kiss: "They're stuck in the hills, thinking they're going to die - it's a way of saying goodbye and also of showing how much they love each other as friends.

This was a wasted opportunity, a chance to explore an emotionally complex situation between best friends that became just another exploitive TV moment instead.

"[10] However, Kinsella has insisted that she was not axed, and her character's departure was a mutual decision between herself and Berridge, who both decided that Kelly had run out of storylines.