| Jade Lovall | |
|---|---|
| Casualty character | |
 Gabriella Leon as Jade Lovall | |
| First appearance | Episode 1105 3 November 2018 |
| Last appearance | "The Road Less Travelled" 18 September 2021 |
| Portrayed by | Gabriella Leon |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Staff nurse (prev. Student nurse) |
| Family | Susie Ashby (mother) Theresa Ashby (grandmother) |
| Significant other | Malc Denison Toby Damron |
Jade Lovall is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, portrayed by actress Gabriella Leon. She first appears in the twelfth episode of the thirty-third series, first broadcast on 3 November 2018. Leon was cast in June 2018 alongside Shaheen Jafargholi, who portrays Marty Kirkby. The role marks the actress' television debut. Initially portrayed as lazy and idle, Jade's characterisation develops as she is shown to be an independent, caring and compassionate young woman. Jade is the drama's first disabled, and deaf, regular character; Leon is also deaf and used her personal experiences to develop her character's story. The character uses a combition of Sign Supported English (SSE) and lip reading to communicate. Producers and Leon were keen to not make her disability a defining feature of the character.
Jade is introduced as a student nurse completing her final placement on Holby City Hospital's maternity ward. Senior nurse Louise Tyler (Azuka Oforka) recognises her talent and invites her to finish her placement at the emergency department (ED), where writers paired her with Marty in a double act tackling their first months in the ED together. First used for light relief against the show's serious stories, the pair were later subject to more delicate stories as Jade becomes a registered nurse and Marty comes out to his family. Off-screen, Leon and Jafargholi liked working together and even moved in together.
The character's biggest story explored her fictional backstory in foster care and deafness. Leon dubbed it "a story of acceptance".[1] One episode uses British Sign Language (BSL) in scenes between Jade and her former boyfriend, with subtitles used for non-BSL speakers. The story culminates in the special episode "Jade's World", written, directed and starring deaf creatives in a first for British history. The episode sees Jade meet her biological mother, Susie Ashby (Sophie Leigh Stone), who she learns is also deaf. "Jade's World" was lauded by television critics and viewers alike.
Producers used the character to highlight the issue of drink spiking and how people with disabilities face additional barriers daily. After having her drink spiked in a club, Jade is nearly assaulted in an alleyway. She is traumatised by the attack and initially seeks revenge. The character's reasons for becoming a nurse were explored in the show's thirty-sixth anniversary, followed by a revenge plot against Jade from Stevie Nash (Elinor Lawless). Leon opted to leave Casualty after three years and Jade departs in the thirty-sixth series episode "The Road Less Travelled", first broadcast on 18 September 2021. The character was well received by television critics and viewers alike. In particular, the representation of deaf people created by the character was praised.