tests. She stated that Steph was confident about beating her illness, as "the alternative [wa]sn't worth thinking about." The character was originally reluctant to tell her family about the cancer for fear of hurting them, and was embarrassed to tell her love interest Gilly Roach (Anthony Quinlan), not wanting him to have to look after her. As the storyline developed, Steph cancelled her wedding to Gilly due to his refusal to accept that her condition was terminal. Quinlan explained that his character impeded her ability to deal with the situation, with his disbelief contrasting Steph's attempt to "take this in her stride and [...] spend quality time with the people she loves before she goes." Marquess deemed the storyline as a whole one which could only be depicted the way it was in Hollyoaks, aiming to tell a "tragic story" with a "sweet and humorous tone"." A comedy element of the storyline had Steph use her cancer as a sob story to enter a talent show, recruiting orphan Tom to take to the stage with her, giving her story further emotional impact. Stenson commented, "Deep down she knows she's not a fantastic singer, but she thought the judges would feel sorry for her and put her through." According to Quinlan, viewer feedback on the storyline was "brilliant". He stated that viewers were upset by Steph's illness, and that it had even brought his own mother to tears. Departure and death In 2010, it was announced that Stenson had decided to quit the serial to pursue a career in musical theatre. She deemed it "one of the most difficult decisions [she had] ever made", stating that Hollyoaks had been her "dream job" and that she would miss her friends in the cast and crew. She made the decision to resign around June 2009, but was convinced by then-producer Lucy Allan to play out a long exit storyline, which concluded filming in September 2010. Before filming her final scenes, Stenson secured her first West End role. Though she had previously felt ready to leave the series, when the time came, she was upset because she felt the reality of it. She called her final scenes "really sad and emotional". Hollyoaks devised an arson plot to begin on Guy Fawkes Night 2010, as a result of which some characters would die. The production team intended to keep details of who would die secret