ITV reboot beloved annual awards ceremony after hiatus – and it’s great news for soap fans
THE British Soap Awards will be back in 2025 after a year’s hiatus, I can reveal.
The great and the ghastly from EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks will once again battle for gongs in the industry’s biggest event of the year.
In 2023, Jane McDonald was drafted in as emergency host to cover long-time presenter Phillip Schofield — who had to relinquish the gig in the wake of the This Morning scandal.
ITV then shelved the annual awards for 2024.
But now it’s thought likely that former Loose Women regular Jane will be back for the glitzy night next summer.
A source told me: “Bosses know we’re a nation of soap lovers and The British Soap Awards is the biggest and best award ceremony for soap fans. It’s been sorely missed this year, so everyone’s pleased it’s coming back for 2025.
“It’s still very early stages, so there’s been no conversations about a host or location as yet, but execs and viewers were impressed with Jane as the host last year.”
A lot has changed in soapland since the 2023 awards.
It will be the first time since 2000 that afternoon soap Doctors isn’t in the running, having been axed by the BBC last year.
The last Best Performer winner was Danielle Harold, but she is no longer on EastEnders as Lola Pearce.
And Coronation Street’s The Platts, who lifted the Best Family gong, will soon be torn apart when Helen Worth’s Gail leaves the cobbles later this year after decades on the soap.
But there’s plenty of new talent and top plots to celebrate instead.
Stuff it, waiter
NEW Sky Max comedy Mr Bigstuff features a restaurant altercation between leading man Danny Dyer and an unlucky waiter, who gets food thrown at him.
But Ryan Sampson – Danny’s co-star in the show, which starts on Wednesday – says it was similar to a real-life situation the pair experienced during a posh meal while filming Plebs in Bulgaria.
They could not get the waiters’ attention to pay the bill, so Danny got us to walk out without paying.
Ryan said: “The restaurant staff were not seeing to us as the Bulgarian president was having a meal upstairs. We get to the street, and a police car spins round and there’s this altercation with Danny and the police.
“He has to be on set at 6am, so this can’t go wrong. But the cops are not understanding him, they’re shouting.
“Soon they’re calm. Danny’s cockney charm has worked. Then the producer said to me: ‘I paid ten times the bill to ensure he didn’t get arrested.’”
Not so big now, is he?
A harsh reality for blind
DISABILITY advocate Claire Sisk says reality shows need to up their game on audio descriptions for blind people – because it’s hard to tell contestants apart on Love Island.
Claire, who went blind aged 29, documents her day-to-day life on social media and has hosted cooking and make-up segments on This Morning.
But while she enjoys a good documentary thanks to its clear narration, the same can’t be said for reality telly.
She explained: “I watched Love Island once and then never again because they all sounded too similar.
“It’s really annoying because I want to be involved in conversations about these shows with my friends.”
Not having descriptions in real life is hard, too.
She said: “I was once stood next to James Corden and Ed Sheeran and had no clue.”
Gillian: I had own sex ed
SHE may have finished her stint as sex therapist Dr Jean Milburn in Netflix hit Sex Education –but Gillian Anderson says the character still influences how she behaves.
She told James Corden on the This Life Of Mine podcast: “Jean awakened [something in me], in terms of embracing my sexuality, and confidence.
“It definitely came out during Sex Education and to a degree I took an element of that, not necessarily in my personal life but in my public self and how I expressed myself.
“My social media felt very influenced by Jean, how freely she talks and embracing who you are, however you want to be.
“She’s so many things that I am not, I am a complete mess so much of the time.”
Tooth hurts, Alan
IT doesn’t take long for teen actor Ollie Savell to get into character for Changing Ends.
He plays a young Alan Carr in the ITV series, all about the comedian’s early life in 1980s Northampton with brother Gary and mum and dad Christine and Graham.
But there are only two props Ollie needs to feel he inhabits the role – a pair of heavy-framed glasses, and false teeth.
He said: “The glasses and the teeth really, really help – it makes me feel a bit like Alan.”
But for the comic, it’s hard not to get offended when the props are wheeled out.
Alan added: “The funny thing is you’re on set and the director will shout, ‘Right, it’s time for a take, can you get Alan’s comedy teeth? Alan’s comedy teeth to set’. And I’m like, ‘I am here.’
“At least Ollie can take his out at the end of the day’.”
A TV job may sound lucrative but A Place In The Sun’s Laura Hamilton reckons not.
The Channel 4 host, who has presented the show for over a decade, told The Sunday Times: “I’ve certainly never broken the million-pound barrier. I’m a daytime TV presenter, what do you think I earn?”
Callie’s got ex factor
IT wasn’t all acting for Callie Cooke in her new role as a super-smart police recruit still hung up on an old flame.
For ITV1 comedy Piglets – which starts on Saturday – the actress brought her own past to her character, who joins the force to impress an ex.
Callie said: “It was fun to lean into this woman. Steph is bright but has lost her head over a man. I mean, we’ve all been there. The directors didn’t call cut for a while, so it was lovely to have such freedom, and to laugh.”
But co-star Sarah Parish, who plays superintendent Julie Spry – tried to get as far from her own life as possible by looking like a former Met Police chief.
Sarah said: “I tried a Cressida Dick wig. Then the make-up artist said, ‘What about teeth?’ and I was like, ‘Let’s do it’.”