Xanthe Canning, played by Lilly Van der Meer, made her first screen appearance on 22 January 2016. The character and casting was announced on 30 November 2015. Colette Mann, who plays Sheila Canning, previously teased a new member of the Canning family in an interview with Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy in October. She commented that the new arrival would start "a big new storyline." Of Van der Meer's casting, Mann said "Lilly's world has certainly been opened up since joining the show and we're loving having her here. She was already a Canning after just a couple of weeks, we had converted her." Xanthe is Sheila's granddaughter and the half-sister of Kyle Canning (Chris Milligan). Their father Gary (Damien Richardson) also made a return to be with the family.