 Metcalfe told Katy Moon from Inside Soap that to forget about the situation Mercedes "wants to feel numb" and as a means of "escape" she called Doctor Browning (Joe Thompson), which left her feeling "awful". Metcalfe explained that Mercedes was in "self destruct mode" and she "hates herself" for having sex with Doctor Browning, although she does not take money this time. Metcalfe justified Mercedes'actions by saying Mercedes was "looking for any distraction, any way to escape her demons". Metcalfe told a journalist from The Sun's magazine TV Buzz that Mercedes believes Doctor Browning "will help her move on" with her ordeal. Mercedes took a business man back to her hotel room where "things end badly"; she locked herself in the bathroom and refused to come out. As Metcalfe explained, Lynsey soon arrived to comfort her, and came to her "rescue when she's at her lowest point. Lynsey can see how broken Mercedes is". On the friendship, Metcalfe said that the "characters are like chalk and cheese, which I think works well", while Hassan said the characters "have this kind of prickly friendship". She added that they have "a lot of things in common, but they ’ re very different people. It ’ s almost like they shouldn ’ t be friends, but opposites attract. Lynsey sees qualities in Mercy that she kind of wishes she had herself. Mercy ’ s very straight-talking, she ’ s quite ballsy and calls a spade a spade, and sometimes Lynsey wishes she had a bit of that gusto. So I think that ’ s what attracts her to Mercy". Both Metcalfe and Hassan praised the friendship between Mercedes and Lynsey, with Metcalfe saying she "loved" the friendship and enjoyed seeing her persona "form a good bond with Lynsey" while Hassan praised the chemistry between herself and Metcalfe.
