'Emmerdale' star wants awards backing

Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher has claimed that the soap deserves more recognition.

In an interview with Take 5 magazine, the actor admitted that the ITV1 show is always the underdog when it battles with Coronation Street and EastEnders for 'Best Soap' gongs.

"It would be nice to get more recognition. Sometimes we beat them in the ratings and we've had some really great storylines," he explained. "We don't get hung up on it though."

Fletcher's character Andy Sugden has been involved in a domestic abuse storyline with his on-screen wife Jo (Roxanne Pallett) this year.

"It was pretty intense. We were filming nearly every day for eight or nine hours at a time," Fletcher revealed. "The hardest thing is when you get home and feel so emotionally drained."

He added: "I'd like [Andy] to get back to being his true self. He can't keep on being nasty."