Isla Haywood was the mother of Hope Stape's classmate Darcy.
In November 2021, Isla spotted Hope's father Tyrone Dobbs at a party for another of her classmates at Speed Daal that Hope hadn't been invited to, even though her younger sister Ruby had. Tyrone railed at the girl's mother Penny Finton for not inviting Hope, accusing her of excluding her because of her history of behavioural problems, while Isla looked on admirably.
Later on, Isla approached Tyrone and introduced herself, also complimenting him on how he dealt with Penny. She gave praise to Hope on how she supported Darcy at school, and invited him and Hope for a milkshake. At Roy's Rolls, Isla and Tyrone chatted while their daughters had their milkshakes. Isla commented on Tyrone's ability to drink coffee in the late afternoon, followed by a discussion on how he felt he'd screwed up as a father, and how well their daughters could pick up on their conversations. Isla invited Tyrone out for a drink, after which they were immediately mocked by their daughters for fancying each other.
That evening, Tyrone discussed his plans to go out with Isla with Hope's mother Fiz. Fiz suggested it was a bad idea, as Darcy was Hope's only friend and having a relationship with her mother came with the risk of it falling apart, which would in turn damage the girls' friendship. Tyrone promised to handle things carefully.
A few days later, Tyrone informed Fiz that he and Isla were due to have lunch out that day, but admitted he was thinking of cancelling after what Fiz had told him about Hope's friendship. Fiz later gave her blessing for Tyrone to see Isla, after her friend Maria suggested she was jealous of Tyrone moving on from her. At their lunch in Speed Daal, the first thing Isla said to Tyrone was not to talk about their kids, which Tyrone happily agreed to. Isla then admitted that she didn't expect Tyrone to come, comparing the lunch to an adventure. She described her ex-husband as a person who was averse to adventure, which she blamed for the collapse of their relationship. Tyrone compared it to his comfortable life with Fiz and how he felt it was why they didn't work out.
As they started to leave and discussed how Isla had paid the full bill, her husband Tony arrived to give her a lift and demanded to know what was going on. Isla quickly slipped her wedding ring back on as he grilled her on where the friends she told him she was having lunch with were. Tyrone asked who he was, and Tony emphatically told him that he was Isla's husband, not separated in any way. Tyrone attempted to apologise to Tony, who immediately punched him in the face. Isla and Tony argued, with Isla accusing him of potentially getting jealous if he knew she was seeing a male friend, while he accused her of being a lair and cheat. The unhappy couple stormed out of the restaurant, while a bleeding Tyrone was left behind to be seen by Fiz and her partner Phill.
List of appearances[]
2021