Scott Ellis of the "Sydney Morning Herald" television magazine stated that, even compared to the slightly surreal standards of most soap operas, Carmella has "been through a wringer". He made a point of the many storylines that transformed the character: "A former party girl turned nun, Carmella has been stalked, slapped, scalded, scarred and even sold a baby. She's found and lost love at least three times, given birth, fought a custody battle, fought kleptomania, and fought various members of her family." In the same vein, "The Daily Telegraph" praised Carmella's versatility in going from "baby peddler to nun, before suffering severe facial burns that required re-constructive surgery." "Inside Soap" opined that 2008 for Carmella was "tragedy after tragedy". "What's on TV" deemed Carmella's scalding with boiling water her most explosive scene, and the "Daily Record" called it karma for selling Teresa's baby. Despite her popularity with the viewers, Carmella was negatively received by Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture. On how to get the magic back into "Neighbours", Deller said "Axe Carmella. Or at least make her a nun again, which was the only time she was interesting". Deller also said she would have rather seen Carmella and Marco leave the show instead of Rosetta and Frazer. The "Liverpool Daily Post" said that they had seen implausible storylines in the serial, but Carmella seeing Marco's ghost "takes the biscuit". However, they concluded "At least he offers Carmella some much-needed support." The "Daily Record" said the ghost scenes were more unforgettable than Bouncer's dream. On the subject of her funeral song they added: "Oddly, none of her friends think she's gone mad, despite an impromptu version of 'Amazing Grace'." Readers of "Inside Soap" were asked who Oliver should be with out of Carmella and Elle. Carmella came first with sixty-six percent of the vote.