a prostitute for Roxy. Actress Brooke Kinsella was cast in the role. In the past, Kinsella had auditioned for the parts of Janine Butcher, Zoe Slater and Sonia Fowler, but had been unsuccessful. Kinsella has commented, "I went up for the part of every girl in the Square. I was closest to getting the part of Zoe. I did workshops with all the Slater girls but you have to say they are all dark and look very alike while I'm blonde. Obviously that wasn't the right one for me. It was hard at the time but I'm very glad because I love playing Kelly. She's totally different from any other character and she's good fun to play." 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 storyline, Kelly ran away from Roxy and she and Zoe went on an extended holiday to the Canary Islands. Kinsella has said that establishing Kelly as a regular character was a gradual process: "Kelly wasn't automatically made a regular and I kept thinking, 'It will be just a few more episodes'. It's a horrible feeling, not knowing if you have a job or not." By the end of 2002, Kelly and Zoe had returned to the serial, and Kelly's first big storyline was a brief romance with the character Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker). Kinsella has said, "That was the first on-screen kiss for both of us and that was the first time I thought there might be places for Kelly to go because it didn't involve Zoe. Kelly was interacting with other characters on [Albert Square]. It came bit by bit. She moved in with the Slaters, helped Zoe set up the stall and that's all slowly securing her on the Square." Character development and reception The friendship between Kelly and Zoe was a recurring storyline for both characters. 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). Kinsella has commented, "It is nice to be compared because they were great [characters] but, hopefully, [Michelle Ryan] and I will bring our own characters to light and show what we can do.