Kym Marsh: 'NTA row was sour grapes'

Kym Marsh has claimed that BBC insiders were making "excuses" when they accused National Television Awards bosses of being biased towards Coronation Street.

The Weatherfield soap won the 'Most Popular Serial Drama' prize at last month's ceremony, beating off competition from rivals EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.

BBC sources later attempted to call the result into question by suggesting that viewers may have been influenced by a three-minute Coronation Street showcase which aired on the NTA programme while vote lines were still open.

However, the ceremony's independent adjudicator PromoVeritas later dismissed the claims by confirming that the ITV1 drama had been ahead at all stages of the voting.

Writing under the headline "Sour grapes" in her New magazine column, Marsh said: "They always have an excuse when we win! But it was just our year. You don't get to 50 [years] without making good TV. So 'in your face' is all I can say!"

The star, who plays Weatherfield's Michelle Connor, added: "There was also some nonsense about the cast of Emmerdale being angry we won. They were cheering like mad - they were so happy ITV won for the first time since 2004!"

Marsh has previously admitted that she was "delighted" over Coronation Street's triumph.