Inside Soap Awards shortlist revealed as Hollyoaks, Coronation Street & Emmerdale face off – and EastEnders star snubbed

THE nominations shortlist for this year’s Inside Soap Awards has been confirmed – with an EastEnders star snubbed.

Stars from all of the soaps will hope to emerge victorious in their respective categories.

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The top four names in each category have now been unveiled ahead of the ceremony.

It will take place on Monday, September 29 – with the winners revealed at 6pm GMT.

Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks are all vying for Best Soap.

Notably, EastEnders‘ huge Queen Vic explosion for the 40th Anniversary has not been included for Best Showstopper.

Nominations include Craig Tinker’s death, Nish and Suki’s final showdown, Emmerdale‘s limo crash and Mercedes facing her cancer scars in Hollyoaks.

James Bye and Lacey Turner – who played key roles as Martin and Stacey in the Queen Vic explosion – have been snubbed for Best Partnership.

Their co-stars Angela Wynter and Rudolph Walker, who play Yolande and Patrick, received a nomination in this category.

Also nominated are Vicky Myers & Alison King (Lisa Swain and Carla Connor), Danny Miller & Ryan Hawley (Aaron Dingle and Robert Sugden), as well as Harvey Virdi & Louis Emerick (Misbah Maalik and Donny Clark).

Lacey, 37, however is in the running for Best Actress – ahead of her impending exit from the BBC soap.

She joins fellow nominees Vicky Myers, Beth Cordingly (Ruby Miligan) and Isabelle Smith (Frankie Osborne).

Meanwhile, Phil Mitchell actor Steve McFadden, 66, recently won an NTA for his performance in a harrowing mental health storyline.

He is up against Jack P. Shepherd (David Platt), Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle) and Kieron Richardson (Ste Hay) for Best Actor.

Jack, 37, has a chance at winning double, as he also been nominated in the Comic Performance category.

He is up alongside CBB co-star Patsy Palmer (Bianca Jackson), Michael Parr (Ross Barton) and Nicola Barber-Lane (Myra McQueen).

Of course, soap wouldn’t be the same without dastardly villains around the corner.

Hoping to reign supreme is Navin Chowdhry (Nish Panesar), Oliver Farnworth (John Sugden), Joe Layton (Mick Michaelis) and Gemma Bissix (Clare Devine).

Across all the soaps, some younger cast members have delivered powerful performances in recent months.

Up for Best Young Performer are Ryan Mulvey (Brody Michaelis), Amelia Flanagan (April Windsor), Lilia Turner (Lily Slater) and Ava Webster (Rose Hutchinson).

Each soap has also welcomed new faces in recent months, adding to their existing ensembles.

Nominated for Best Newcomer are Ryan Mulvey, Laura Doddington (Nicola Mitchell), Bradley Riches (Lewis Barton) and Zak Sutcliffe (Bobby Costello).

Viewers have also been left heartbroken when characters bowed out in tragic, dramatic circumstances.

In the Best Exit category are James Bye, Colson Smith (Craig Tinker) Natalie Ann Jamieson (Amy Barton) and Tyler Conti (Abe Fielding).

Expansive clans are a soap staple – so the Platts, the Dingles, the Slaters and the Osbornes will all hope to win Best Family.

Soap viewers have experienced several thought-provoking and dramatic storylines as of late.

Nominated for Best Storyline is Mason’s death & Abi’s PTSD, Phil Mitchell: Hypermasculinity in crisis, John Sugden’s hero complex and Hollyoaks‘ teenage sexual exploitation.

Aussie soaps dominate the Best Daytime Star category, with Neighbours and Home Away contributing two nominees each.

These are Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson), Xavier Molyneux (Byron Stone), Ethan Browne (Tane Parata) and Nicholas Cartwright (Cash Newman).

Waterloo Road and Casualty actors comprise the nominations Best Drama Star.

Namely, Barney Walsh (Cam Mickelthwaite), Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson), Jason Manford (Steve Savage) and Zak Sutcliffe (Shuey Weever).

As well as the above awards, readers also got to vote for their Soap Superstar of 2025.

Sarah Ellis, editor of Inside Soap magazine, said: “2025 has been a year full of shocks and surprises in the world of soap; from John Sugden’s reign of terror in Emmerdale and Martin’s tragic goodbye in EastEnders, to villainous Clare Devine’s return from the dead in Hollyoaks, and the runaway success of ‘Swarla’ in Coronation Street.

“But which of our top nominees will be taking home the trophies on the big night?”

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