'Enders, 'Hollyoaks' lead soap award nominations

EastEnders and Hollyoaks have bagged themselves the largest number of shortlisted nominations for this year's British Soap Awards.

Each of the five eligible soaps – Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Doctors and Hollyoaks – have three nominations each in the categories voted for by the viewing public: Sexiest Male, Sexiest Female, Villain of the Year, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Soap,

Of the 17 awards, six are voted for by the public, while the remaining 11 are voted for by the panel, the awards including Best Dramatic Performance, Best Exit, Best Single Episode and Best Storyline.

Out of the 36 shortlisted panel-voted nominations, BBC One's Walford soap achieved 11 nods with one or more in each and every category, while Hollyoaks has picked up the same number.

Meanwhile, Coronation Street appears six times, Emmerdale five and Doctors three.

Hosted by This Morning's Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield, the 10th annual British Soap Awards ceremony takes place on Saturday night in London.

Speaking of the show Schofield said: "It's the best party in town! Because the soap teams work so hard and it seems that they work harder every year, this is the one night they can truly let their hair down. They party like no other people I have ever come across. After the awards have finished, I briefly go into the party, do a circuit and get out before it gets messy!"

The British Soap Awards will transmit on ITV1 on Wednesday, May 7 at 8pm.

For the full list of the panel's shortlisted nominations, click here.