 Taylforth was originally dismissed for the role of Kathy due to her young age, but was reconsidered when she impressed show bosses.Kathy remained in a prominent role throughout her original stint on the serial, featuring in high-profiled storylines involving her rape at the hands of James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde) and the discovery of a long-lost daughter, Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler), after she was sexually assaulted as a teenager.In 1993, after the character's marriage with her husband Pete (Peter Dean) ended with the latter's departure from the square, Kathy developed a romance with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and they later had a son - Ben, who caused Kathy turmoil when he contracted a rare form of meningitis.