Hayley Ramsey

Hayley Ramsey is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kelly-Marie Stewart. She made her first on-screen appearance on 28 January 2009 as the sister of already established character Zak Ramsey (Kent Riley). Hayley is notably the first prominent disabled character in Hollyoaks, and like Stewart, has Guillain–Barré syndrome. In December 2009, it was announced that Stewart's real-life pregnancy would be written into the show and that Hayley would become pregnant. Making her final on-screen appearance on 22 February 2010, the character did not return after Stewart's maternity leave ended.

Character creation

Background

The character of Hayley was in development for over 18 months prior to filming. The casting was made public in December 2008 along with details of the character, revealing she was to be the sister of already established character Zak Ramsey. The character's back history with Zak is that of a close brother and sister relationship, but at the time of Hayley's condition developing, he could not deal with it and thought she would need constant care.