Coronation Street and Emmerdale have been pulled off air in a huge shake-up
Dan Laurie Deputy Editor of Screen Time
08:18, 27 Mar 2026
Coronation Street and Emmerdale won’t air tonight as usual(Image: ITV)
Emmerdale and Coronation Street fans face a lengthy wait before their next soap fix.
In a major ITV scheduling shake-up this evening (Friday, March 27), both long-running dramas have had their episodes pulled from their regular time slots.
Corrie and Emmerdale typically broadcast 30-minute episodes on weeknights between 8pm and 9pm as part of ITV’s popular soap power hour.
However, viewers have been left without Friday’s instalment after the channel opted to air coverage of England’s clash against Uruguay at Wembley Stadium.
England’s home fixture against Uruguay at Wembley on Friday forms part of an international friendly, serving as preparation ahead of World Cup 2026, reports the Daily Star.
Emmerdale and Corrie have been cancelled to make way for football(Image: ITV)
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Uruguay have historically proved a formidable opponent for the Three Lions, who have won just one of their last six encounters against the South American side, including a damaging group stage defeat at World Cup 2014.
ITV’s coverage gets under way at 7pm, ahead of a 7.45pm kick-off, meaning both Coronation Street and Emmerdale will not air, leaving devoted fans far from happy.
This isn’t the first time the soap schedule has been disrupted by sport this month. On March 6, viewers were equally disgruntled to learn the soaps had once again been axed by ITV in favour of sporting coverage, prompting a direct plea to bosses.
Taking to social media, one frustrated fan posted: “What again !! This is happening way too often.” Another agreed: “Why can’t rugby go on ITV3?” while a third added: “Exactly! Or they could at least still put the Corrie episode on ITVX.”
ITV has arranged an extra episode of both soaps to broadcast on Sunday, March 29
To compensate for the scheduling change, ITV has arranged an extra episode of both soaps to broadcast on Sunday (March 29) instead, meaning fans will still receive five instalments of their favourite programme this week, albeit not at the customary time.
Coronation Street viewers are eagerly awaiting what lies ahead for sinister stalker Mal Roper (Tim Treloar). Earlier this week, the Weatherfield villain experienced a “sudden flashback”, apparently recalling the identity of his attacker, though the problem is that he hasn’t fingered the right man.
Over on Emmerdale, meanwhile, Kim Tate (Claire King) found herself having to justify her choice to bequeath the manor house Home Farm to Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) upon her passing.
Her vast multi-million pound empire, however, will be divided amongst her grandchildren, including Joe Tate (Ned Porteous), who was far from happy to discover that his family home could be pulled from under him.
Emmerdale and Coronation Street return to ITV1 on Sunday, March 29 at 7pm and 7.30pm retrospectively