Entertainment: British Soap Awards Go Gender-Neutral: TV Stars Battle For Best Leading Performer

One of the UK TV industry calendar’s biggest nights, the British Soap Awards, will return this June after a two-year hiatus.

ITV, who hosts the Awards – to be hosted by ITV presenter Philip Schofield from London’s Hackney Empire – has announced that the ceremony will follow in the footsteps of the BRIT Awards and other ceremonies in making its trophies gender-neutral.

Instead of awarding Best Actor and Best Actress, stars from the soaps including EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks will all be in the running for one award, Best Leading Performer.

Oscars 2022: The Best Parties, From Start to Finish (Photos)

Academy Awards Week began with a celebration of Black women's achievements in Hollywood and crescendoed with "The Slap Heard Round the World" as one Black man sucker slapped another during the broadcast and women lost ground in the never-ending battle for equality (and in fighting our own battles, as well). There were some strides, as "CODA," a female-directed-and-written film took Best Picture and Jane Campion snagged Best Director (the third woman in 94 years) for "The Power of the Dog," but the talk of every after-party on Sunday night wasn't celebrating those achievements; instead, every conversation was about the two famous men and the one famo

This is one of three categories voted for by viewers, among 14 trophies being handed out on the night.

This year saw the BRIT Awards, presented to music stars by the British Phonographic Industry, scrap gender classifications for the first time, with Adele beating other artists including Ed Sheeran to Artist of the Year.

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