Phillip Schofield steps down from The British Soap Awards 2023

The British Soap Awards are usually a rather pleasant affair.

The great and the good of the soap world will, of course, be in attendance, but one person will be conspicuous by their absence – Phillip Schofield.

When he announced a couple of weeks ago that he was stepping down from presenting This Morning, amid rumours of reports of a rift between himself and co-host Holly Willoughby, he stated he would still be hosting this ceremony. However, that changed a few days later.

Schofield released another statement, which read: “I have… decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect, expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.”

Hopefully the furore won’t distract from what promises to be a fun and entertaining evening. Perhaps more casual viewers will be tempted to take a look, but the core audience will still be the fans who want to celebrate a very dramatic 12 months in soapland.

It’s been emotional as a quick look at the nominations for Scene of the Year proves. The nominees are an acid attack in Coronation Street, Whitney and Zack’s heart-breaking goodbye to their daughter Peach in EastEnders, Paddy’s suicide attempt in Emmerdale, an explosion in Doctors, and Zoe reassuring Maxine that her abuse was not her fault in Hollyoaks.

The winners will be decided by a panel, as will Best On-Screen Partnership, Comedy Performance, Single Episode, Newcomer and Family.

The experts will also decide who is going home with the award for the hotly contested Best Dramatic Performance. The nominees are Charlotte Jordan (Daisy in Coronation Street), Nikki Sanderson (Maxine, Hollyoaks), Chris Walker (Rob, Doctors), Jeff Hordley (Cain, Emmerdale) and Danielle Harold (Lola, EastEnders).

Charlotte and Danielle have another chance to pick up a gong in the categories voted for by viewers, as they are both up for Best Leading Performer. Danielle’s character has recently been dealing with a devastating diagnosis, which may mean she is freshest in viewers’ minds, but she will face stiff competition from her EastEnders colleague Shona McGarty, who plays tragedy-magnet Whitney, as well as Emmerdale’s Dominic ‘Paddy’ Brunt and Sally Dexter, whose alter ego Faith bid an emotional farewell to the Dales in December.

Fans also get a chance to reward their Villain of the Year, and crown a Best Young Performer, a category in which Lillia Turner, who plays pregnant 12-year-old Lily in EastEnders, may be the one to beat.

As ever though, the biggest prize is Best Soap, where Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks, Coronation Street and Doctors go head to head. Last year, Emmerdale took the trophy home, but can it retain the title?

And will we get any drama worthy of the soaps themselves – or the This Morning sofa? We’ll have to wait and see…