Winners and nominees
| British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer | |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| First awarded | 2022 |
| Currently held by | Danielle Harold (Lola Pearce-Brown in EastEnders ) |
The British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer is an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards. The award was introduced to the ceremony in 2022, succeeding the categories for Best Actress and Best Actor as a gender neutral replacement. [1] Alongside Best British Soap and Best Villain, the award is voted for by the public. An initial longlist is announced, and after an initial round of voting, the five performers with the highest votes advance to the shortlist, after which voting is opened for a second time. [2] The award is currently held by EastEnders actress Danielle Harold.
| Soap opera | Wins | Shortlist nominations |
|---|---|---|
| EastEnders | 1 | 3 |
| Emmerdale | 1 | 3 |
| Coronation Street | 0 | 2 |
| Doctors | 0 | 0 |
| Hollyoaks | 0 | 0 |
Diane Parish is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera EastEnders since 2006.
The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal and glass and have been manufactured by British firm Creative Awards since their inception. The majority of the awards are voted for by a panel of industry professionals, while certain awards including Best British Soap and Best Leading Performer are voted for by the general public.
Jeff Hordley is an English actor, best known for portraying the role of Cain Dingle in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. For his portrayal of Cain, he has been nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Actor at three ceremonies.
The Inside Soap Awards is a yearly British award ceremony run by Inside Soap magazine since 1996. The awards celebrate both British and Australian soap operas and their actors. The current soap operas nominated for awards are Casualty, Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, Home and Away and Waterloo Road. Now defunct soaps that were formerly nominated for awards are Take the High Road, Springhill, Sunset BeachThe Bill, Bad Girls, Brookside, Crossroads, Family Affairs, Night and Day, Where the Heart Is, Holby City and Neighbours.
Jan Pearson is an English actress. Pearson grew up in Wollaston, West Midlands, and began her career in various stage productions. She yearned to work in television and was soon cast as Kath Fox in the BBC medical drama Holby City in 1999, a role she stayed in until 2004. She then ventured back into theatre, before joining the BBC soap opera Doctors as Karen Hollins. For her role in Doctors, Pearson won the award for Best On-Screen Partnership twice alongside Chris Walker, at the 2010 and 2023 British Soap Awards. Pearson left Doctors in 2023.
Ian Midlane is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Al Haskey on the BBC soap opera Doctors. For his performance as Al, he won the award for Best Comedy Performance at the 2018 British Soap Awards.
The British Soap Award for Best Actress was an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards from its inception in 1999 until 2019. Alongside Best Actor, the award was voted for by the public. EastEnders was the most awarded soap in the category, with ten wins. Lacey Turner is the most awarded actress, with three wins. In 2022, it was confirmed that the category had been replaced by the award for Best Leading Performer. The final winner of the award was Emmerdale actress Lucy Pargeter.
Christopher Walker is an English actor, known for his roles as Larry 'Tiger' Barton in the BBC drama Merseybeat and Rob Hollins in the BBC soap opera Doctors. For his portrayal of Rob, Walker has been nominated for various awards, and in 2010 and 2023, he won the award for Best On-Screen Partnership at the British Soap Awards, alongside Jan Pearson who played his on-screen wife, Karen Hollins.
The British Soap Award for Villain of the Year is an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards. Upon its inception, the award was voted for by a panel, until in 2006, it opened as a publicly voted category. This remained until 2014. However, in 2023, it was once again opened as a public vote. Coronation Street is the most awarded soap in the category, with nine wins. Emmerdale is the only current soap not to have won a Villain of the Year award, while Family Affairs (1997–2005) never won the accolade. The award is currently held by Eastenders actor Aaron Thiara, who plays Ravi Gulati in the soap.
The British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance is an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards. From 2016 to 2019, the award was split into gendered categories; female and male. This was dropped in 2022 in favour of having a gender neutral category again. The award is voted for by a panel. Coronation Street is the most awarded soap in the category, with ten wins, while EastEnders actress Lacey Turner has won the most, with three wins. The award is currently held by Coronation Street actress Charlotte Jordan.
The 2014 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2013 and 2014. The ceremony was held on 24 May 2014 at the Hackney Empire theatre in Hackney, London, and was later broadcast on ITV1 and STV. The publicly voted categories were announced on 17 March 2014, with the vote opening that same day. This included a longlist for the Best Actress and Actor, Sexiest Female and Male and Villain of the Year awards. The shortlist, including panel nominations, was released on 2 May 2014.
The 2015 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2014 and 2015. The ceremony was held on 16 May 2015 at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, and was later broadcast on ITV1 and STV. The publicly voted categories were announced on 30 March 2015, with the vote opening that same day. This included a longlist for the Best Actress and Actor awards. The shortlist, including panel nominations, was released on 27 April 2015. The accolades for Sexiest Female and Male, which were formerly voted for by the public, were axed for this ceremony. This was due to reports of cast members being embarrassed by the accolade.
The 2016 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2015 and 2016. The ceremony was held on 24 May 2016 at the Hackney Empire theatre in Hackney, London, and was broadcast four days later on ITV1 and STV. The publicly voted categories were announced on 4 April 2016, with the vote opening that same day. This included a longlist for the Best Actress and Actor awards. The shortlist, including panel nominations, was released on 2 May 2016.
The 2018 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2017 and 2018. The ceremony was held on 2 June 2018 at the Hackney Empire theatre in Hackney, London, and was broadcast live for the first time on ITV and STV. The publicly voted categories were announced on 10 April 2018, with the vote opening that same day. This included a longlist for the Best Actress and Actor awards. The shortlist, including panel nominations, was released on 1 May 2018.
The 2019 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2018 and 2019. The ceremony was held on 1 June 2019 at the Lowry theatre in Salford Quays, Salford, and was broadcast live on ITV1 and STV. The publicly voted categories were announced on 9 April 2019, with the vote opening that same day. This included a longlist for the Best Actress and Actor awards. The shortlist, including panel nominations, was released on 30 April 2019, alongside tickets for the ceremony being made available for sale.
The 2022 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2021 and 2022. The ceremony was held on 11 June 2022 at the Hackney Empire theatre in Hackney, London, and was broadcast live on ITV, ITV Hub and STV.
The 2023 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2022 and 2023. The ceremony was held on 3 June 2023 at the Lowry theatre in Salford Quays, Salford, and was broadcast on ITV1, ITVX and STV three days later. The publicly voted categories were announced on 11 April 2023, with the vote opening that same day. This included a longlist for the Best Leading Performer accolade, which included five cast members from each respective soap. Viewers could also vote for Villain of the Year for the first time since 2014, as well as being able to vote for Best Young Performer for the first time. The shortlist, including panel nominations, was released on 2 May 2023, alongside tickets for the ceremony being made available for sale.