| Character Profile | List of appearances |
Gilbert "Gilly" Roach is the husband of the late Steph Roach.
Gilly arrived in the village as the best friend of Rhys Ashworth and in his early years on the show Gilly had developed many friendships and relationships with many women such as the likes of Jessica Harris, Rhys' half sister Beth Clements and Cheryl Brady. Billy's most notable relationship however was that in the form of Steph Dean whom Gilly would eventually marry until her death in 2010.
Gilly at first was seen to be a "push-over" type character and was "too nice" for his own good however by the year 2011, Gilly was taking down a slightly more darker path when he was involved in the rape of Jacqui McQueen, which after coming to terms with what he done led to Gilly's departure later on in the year.
Biography[]
2005-2008: Arrival & Relationships[]
Gilly arrives at the Ashworth family home in October 2005 having arrived from his home city, Manchester, its quickly seen that his the best friend of Rhys Ashworth and after his brief visit Gilly opts to move in with the family. When the students at Hollyoaks Community College decide to have a Halloween party, Gilly along with Rhys sneak into the party and Gilly meets Jessica Harris whom he ends up sharing a kiss with after this Gilly assumes that he and Jessica are in a relationship and even pretends to be a philosophy student in order to impress her and grow closer this leads Gilly into a brief rivalry with Jessica's current boyfriend, Mark Jury and the would often clash over Jessica's affections eventually Gilly along with Mark was told by Jessica that she no longer wants anything to do with them as she cannot choose which one out the two men she likes more.
Gilly later becomes an employee at the local shop known as Drive 'n' Buy after it was brought by Rhys' father, Neville Ashworth during which Gilly meets Sarah Barnes and the two hit it off and go on dates and Gilly even attempts to fight off a thug sent by Warren Fox to save Sarah however despite this Gilly is gutted when Sarah loses interest and ends up in a relationship with Rhys instead as revenge for this Gilly tells Sarah that Rhys slept with her own mother, Kathy, this lead Sarah to break up with Rhys and again grow closer with Gilly this leads Gilly to be thrown out by Rhys however after a few weeks Gilly makes up with Rhys and moves back in the Ashworths.
In March 2007, Gilly along with Zak Ramsey decide to do a stripping show at The Loft, Rhys agreed to also do so however is soon replaced by Calvin Valentine. During the event Gilly meets a young girl named Molly Traverse and goes on a few dates with her however Gilly is scared off by her when she mentions marriage to him. Gilly also finds himself supporting Rhys' younger sister, Hannah during her battle with anorexia and has clashes with Hannah's friend, Melissa Hurst and Gilly is even attacked by Hannah one time but soon forgives her after Hannah apologises to him. Later on in the year Gilly wrongly assumes his boss, Simon Crosby is a paedophile after Gilly had seen Simon leave a public toilet with a crying child but wanting more proof Gilly takes it upon himself to break into Simon's home where he finds pictures of children in swimming costumes and is shocked too see that one of the children is Tom Cunningham. Gilly then sees a little boys room but the door is locked this arises Gillys suspicious and he tells O.B. and Jake Dean and later Max Cunningham but the three men are left feeling guilty when they learn that Simon is completely innocent and Gilly is later shown a photo by Simon's wife, Gemma Crosby if their son he tragically died a few years before and Gilly also learns that Simon attempted suicide.
Later Gilly meets a young woman named Beth Clements who unknowingly is the half sister of Rhys. Gilly ends up going on a trip to Thailand with Beth and they return by 2008 and having falling in love with Beth, Gilly does the unthinkable and proposes to her which Beth actually accepts however this was only to make Rhys jealous as he had entered into a relationship with Mercedes McQueen but Gilly is later told by Mercedes' younger sister, Michaela McQueen that she had caught Rhys and Beth kissing after this revelation Gilly walks in on Rhys and Beth in bed and in response punches Rhys and begins to beat him up and in spite calls the police as its incest. Gilly is shocked however when this action leads to Rhys and Beth attempting to flee the country and end up in a car accident which tragically kills Beth after this Gilly's friendship with Rhys ends for some time but they eventually forgive each other. Later on Gilly meets new student, Leila Roy and briefly enters a relationship with her but they're relationship is short lived. Gilly also has a few run ins with trouble maker Gaz Bennett.
2009-2010: Relationship & Marriage to Steph Dean[]
By the later half of 2009, Gilly has grown close with Steph Cunningham and ends up developing strong feelings for Steph but is taken back when Steph is in a relationship with her fellow dance teacher, Fernando Fernandez. When Gilly accompanies Steph and Fernando at a boot camp holiday, Steph gets the impression that Gilly has feelings for Sarah unaware that Gilly is in fact fallen in love with her. Gilly later leaves the camp with Steph and Fernando and Sarah is tragically killed in a parachute accident. Later on Gilly decides to write Steph a poem but in the poem Gilly writes offensive remarks about Fernando and Gilly tells Steph that it was Rhys that was one whom wrote it after he was confronted by Steph. Gilly is shocked when this leads Fernando to punch Rhys. Later in an effort to make Steph feel jealous Gilly enters into a brief relationship with Cheryl Brady after kissing Cherly.
Gilly is eventually sussed out about his feelings towards Steph by Steph's very own mother, Frankie Osborne, although Gilly does his very best to denie his feelings to Frankie and tells her that his in love with Cheryl and things get a tad out of hand when Gilly is caught by Cheryl looking at what seems to be an engagement ring and assumes Gilly wants to marry her however the ring was from Fernando for Steph but Gilly is taken aback when Cheryl tells a packed Dog in the Pond that Gilly is now engaged to her and not having the heart to tell her otherwise, Gilly goes long with Cheryl's assumption however Gilly is later confronted by Cheryl when she notices the way Gilly and Steph are towards each other this leads Cheryl to call off their engagement.
After breaking up with Cheryl, Gilly decides to go travelling along with both Mike Barnes and Zoe Carpenter by January 2010. Although Gilly was approached by Steph who found out of Gilly's feelings, Steph tells Gilly she feels the same way, Gilly however still ends up going travelling. Gilly then turns in early March 2010 where its revealed he has a new girlfriend upon his return with girl named Jem Costello. Gilly is unaware of how upset Steph is with this and Gilly himself later proposes to Jem and although Steph reveals to Gilly she's fallen in love with him Gilly hides his true feelings towards Steph and opts to stay with Jem instead but Gilly soon finds out Rhys has told Jem of his and Steph true feelings this then causes Jem to split up with Gilly and later on Gilly and Steph finally confess their true love towards one another and after months of battling their feelings towards each other they finally begin a relationship with one another.
Gilly tragically is soon having to find himself support Steph through a heart-breaking ordeal when Steph is diagnosed with Cervical Cancer although Steph did not tell Gilly at first and although initially angry that Steph kept it from him at first, Gilly aids her when Steph has to have a hysterectomy in an attempt to remove the Cancer but Gilly is saddened to learn that the operation did not work and this devastates him and Steph. Gilly is shocked when Steph calls off their relationship as she feels her having Cancer is unfair but when they reconcile Gilly and Steph agree to get married and start to plan their wedding and after a few months of planning Gilly eventually marries Steph. Gilly comforts Steph by the start of November 2010 when Steph tells him that she is scared of dying that same evening a fire breaks out when someone sets fire to the Il Gnosh this leads Steph to perish although at her own will too. Gilly is devastated and hits out and a few villagers and accuses and punches Bart McQueen however Gilly discovers the truth after Dom's arrested after which Gilly moves in with the Osborne family. Gilly attends Steph's funeral the following month he also helps Rhys con gangster Danny Houston.
2011: The Rape of Jacqui McQueen & Departure[]
By early 2011, Gilly has a brief romance with Lynsey Nolan but calls it off when he assumes it's so soon after Steph and when Lynsey finds a lump Gilly panics and confirms his not ready for another relationship. By March 2011, Gilly seemingly sleeps with Rhys' now girlfriend, Jacqui McQueen. However this is not the case as it turns out Gilly took advantage of Jacqui's drunken state and her half hearted attempts to fight back, Gilly is arrested but released on bail and faces a trail. Gilly's friendship with Rhys also come crashing down. Although his rightly accused of rape Gilly receives support from the Steph's family as well as many of the other villagers such as Cheryl and Lynsey and Gilly's case gets stronger when his found not guilty. After this both Rhys and Lynsey start to believe and support Jacqui also after the trial Gilly departs the village for sometime away.
Gilly returns in September 2011 and Cheryl gives Gilly a job at her club, Chez Chez but upon his return Gilly is met with a punch by Rhys who ends up quitting due to Gilly starting his job at the club. Afterwards Gilly is given a place to stay when Cheryl allows him to move in with her and Gilly begins to start another romantic relationship with Cheryl but one night when Gilly is about to sleep with Cheryl he gets a serious of flashbacks to the night he raped Jacqui and this leads to Gilly realising what he did he later arrives at Jacqui's flat to apologise and is met with another punch by Rhys. Gilly is forgiven by Jacqui after a special three hander episode but the next day Gilly tells the Osbornes as well as Cheryl what he did and Frankie is left disgusted by Gilly and states Steph would be disgusted in him. Gilly later departs the village but before doing so he looks back and he and Rhys give each other a look before he departs.
Appendices[]
Residences[]
Employment History[]
Background information[]
- Actor Anthony Quinlan decided to quit the show in 2011, with his final scenes airing in November 2011.
Introduction Sequence[]
Quotes[]
