The British Soap Awards have been cancelled for 2026, ITV has officially confirmed. First taking place in 1999, the ceremony took place every year until COVID caused it to skip out on 2020 and 2021. It returned for two years, before sitting 2024 out. After taking place last year, the awards will now skip 2026 too. Similarly to last time the show was shelved for the year, no specific reason has been given for this break.
It’s an unexpected move, as the recent Corriedale crossover was the most-viewed ITV programme for the entire month of January, with 5.9 million viewers across consolidated TV and streaming.
It was also reported that both soaps achieved their highest monthly streaming numbers ever due to the crossover build-up and aftermath, up 48% year on year and totalling 65 million streams combined.
Last year’s British Soap Awards ceremony, which was hosted by Jane McDonald for the second time, saw EastEnders triumph with a win for Best British Soap, Best Leading Performance (Lacey Turner), Villain of the Year (Navin Chowdhry), Best Comedy Performance (Patsy Palmer), Best Dramatic Performance (Steve McFadden), and Best Scene (Angie’s return as a ghost), to name just a few.
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The event wasn’t without drama of its own, however, as the afterparty had to be evacuated due to a security alert.
The stars of Britain’s serial dramas attended the swanky party at Hackney Town Hall, next door to the Hackney Empire where the ceremony took place. However, security had to calmly escort everyone out after an alert was raised.
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Related: EastEnders stars confirm dramatic wedding ahead for their characters
Meanwhile in soap world, Emmerdale recently announced a big new storyline for Kammy Hadiq, one which will finally delve into his backstory.
“There’s some tragedy in there, but it all makes sense,” actor Shebz Miah said. “There’s a reason why he’s so cheery and charismatic.”
We’ve also rounded up every Coronation Street upcoming storyline we already know about for 2026.
Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast from Inside Soap magazine. The latest episode delves into next week’s soap spoilers for EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale – featuring steamy affairs, shocking deaths, flash-forwards and major moral dilemmas.