Porter deeming her an "ultimate original", Gemma Merna stating that she "was Hollyoaks", and Ricky Whittle admitting that he cried during the airing of her final scenes. Television and entertainment website Holy Soap did not see Steph's fire death coming, calling her actions brave and her ten-year duration "mammoth". They described her most memorable moment as telling Niall she did not love him and then watching him commit suicide. Inside Soap said if there was an award for "the unluckiest character in soap", Steph would certainly win. In his column for The Guardian, television critic Jim Shelley stated that it was time for Steph to go, having "suffered enough" during her tenure. Humorously recapping her ten years in Hollyoaks, Shelley wrote: Sarah Welsh of the South Wales Echo gave the stalking storyline a negative review. She called both plot and acting "ridiculous" and commented that while she often felt sorry for the serial being snubbed at the National Soap Awards, "This is not the way to raise the game." Steph's relationships were a focal point of many reviews. The Daily Mirror Nicola Methven and Polly Hudson found a 2004 love triangle between Steph, her sister Debbie and love interest Dan Hunter (Andrew McNair) "surprising compelling". Grace Dent of The Guardian observed of her failed engagement to Fernando: "With the best will in the world, I don't feel that marriage was ever going to last". Dent had previously named Steph singing the Sugababes' "About You Now" at Max's funeral one of her four favourite soap moments of 2008. Roz Laws of the Sunday Mercury felt there was "plenty of chemistry" between Steph and Gilly. Reviewing the Steph-centric spin-off In Too Deep for The Times, Tim Teeman commented that while late-night Hollyoaks episodes had previously been amusing, "sexed-up" versions of the main show, with In Too Deep it became "less shagathon, more What Lies Beneath". The episode was selected as recommended viewing by Laws of the Sunday Mercury. The launch of Hollyoaks Later series one, in which Niall returns to target Steph, was named a "Satellite Pick of the Day" by the Daily Record. Christopher Howse, writing "Tatworld" for The Daily Telegraph—a column chronicling tabloid culture—named Steph and her family joint tenth in a list of Top Ten Deans, which included entrants such as Dean Koontz, Dean Gaffney and Richard Dean Anderson. References External links Character profile at E4.com Character profile at