Elle's persona has often been portrayed as manipulative and ruthless. Of Elle, Black has described her stating: "Viewers will recognise Elle as a fairly cold, hard, fairly manipulative character". Black also praised her characters maturity during her relationship with Oliver Barnes (David Hoflin) adding: "Lately she’s shown a softer, more mature side to her personality. [...] I like it when the scriptwriters choose to show a caring side to Elle as it makes her more of an interesting person to play". Elle's manipulative ways calmed during her later years in the series, although they still were present during storylines involving Paul, Of this Black said: "She’s quite manipulative, because she wants him to be a model dad, she tries to correct his flaws. By keeping an eye on him and his roving eye, she thinks she can make sure he stays out of trouble".