'Coronation Street' has won the Best Showstopper gong ahead of the Inside Soap Awards ceremony on Monday (23.11.20).
Shelley King
The ITV soap won the award for its dramatic storyline involving Ian Bartholomew (Geoff Metcalfe) and Shelley King (Yasmeen Metcalfe), and in particular, the moment when she retaliated in self-defence against her abusive husband.
Reacting to the success on ITV's 'This Morning', Ian said via a video link: "This is fantastic, it's got to be said.
"This obviously has to go to the scriptwriters and producers of 'Coronation Street', who've just done such a fantastic job on the storyline, for telling a very important story.
"So thank you very much to all the people from Inside Soap who deemed it appropriate that we should win this award – thank you so much."
In a statement, Shelley added: "We started this story two years ago, and in that time I have met so many extraordinary real people, and it's been a real privilege to hear their stories - so I have to thank them for sharing and allowing us to create that scene which was pretty harrowing."
Meanwhile, Steven Murphy, editor of Inside Soap, is looking forward to the upcoming ceremony, explaining that there’s been "no shortage of quality or drama" despite the coronavirus lockdown.
He said: "The British public have perhaps relied on soaps more than ever this year, and that’s been reflected with the extremely high response we’ve had on the voting for the awards.
"Soaps have brought some form of normality to the lives of so many people in 2020 and, when you look at the finalists, there’s been no shortage of quality or drama."
The organisers of the event are also looking forward to welcoming fans from across the country for the virtual ceremony.
Steven explained: "It will be a chance for soap fanatics to re-live some of the best moments of the year and celebrate the superb actors that have graced our TV screens once again."