Stephanie Hoyland / Carla Bonner

After arriving in Erinsborough in 1999 with the rest of her family, Steph soon settled in to living in Ramsay Street becoming firm friends with most of the other resident’s particularly those of number 30 such as Joel, Lance and Toadie.

Steph first few years were fairly turbulent as she found herself falling for Drew Kirk who was engaged (and then married) her best friend Libby Kennedy. Stephs own wedding fell to pieces as her groom, Marc Labert, found himself unable to complete his vows as they stood before gathered family and friends. Their relationship had always been questioned by Marcs mother, who felt Steph was an unsuitable choice for Marc at first, but it was Marc finding himself more interested in Steph's younger sister Felicity Scully that prevented their marriage. Steph was furious at Flick as she found out what had cause the problem despite Flick's attempts to explain the unplanned nature of Flick's relationship with Marc.

Steph found love again later in Max Hoyland. Their relationship was uncertain at first as Max struggled to muster the courage and conviction to explain his feelings towards Steph to her. In the end Max explained all to her as she left to go on a tour of Australia. Their relationship wasn't welcomed by all particularly Max's oldest child Boyd Hoyland who resented Steph for getting involved with Max. He tried his best to disrupt the pair and caused plenty of problems which saw Steph seriously doubting whether a relationship could really happen between her and Max. Things gradually resolved though and the pair became one of the strongest couples in the street, relationship wise.

Things took a turn for the worse as Steph fell pregnant. The elation at the news was fairly short lived as Steph felt something was wrong. Despite Max's attempts to wave away her fears Steph managed to realise that it was her cancer returning. Upon a confirmation that Steph was again suffering from breast cancer Max tried to get Steph to have treatment. Despite the minimal risk for Charlie from chemotherapy Steph refused to undergo the treatment until Charlie was safely born. Desperate to save Steph, who was suffering massively from the cancer which was aggressively spreading to other parts of her body, Max attempted to force her into having treatment which saw Steph being sanctioned under the mental health act. This movement failed as Steph proved after several intensive and intrusive tests that she was capable of making her own decision on whether to have treatment and ended her relationship with Max and she refused to have anything to do with him. The pairs love brought them through in the end though as they found themselves comforting each other some time later. Shortly after their reconciliation Steph gave birth to Charlie Hoyland and then begun her chemotherapy for the cancer. The treatment severely weakened Steph and saw her in hospital for several days after but she gradually began building up strength and was able to return to number 32 and spend time with her family and Charlie.