Soap awards' most scandalous moments…from star sacked over backstage brawl to Danny Dyer's beef with Phillip Schofield
IT'S hardly surprising that a room full of soap actors generates its fair share of drama - and this year's British Soap Awards did not disappoint.
There were audible gasps from the audience when EastEnders star Patsy Palmer took to the stage after receiving the Best Comedy Performance gong for her role as Bianca Jackson.
After thanking people for voting for her, the actress, 53, went on a bizarre tangent about women's privates.
She told the crowd: "I'm glad I was there for the 40th [anniversary of EastEnders] because that was really where we celebrated the woman's vagina.
"I think vaginas have always been funny."
There was reportedly more, but ITV deemed it too explicit for broadcast and cut it down - though the stunned expressions of her co-stars in the audience suggested viewers missed a treat.
A source said: 'It was so bizarre. One minute she's doing a pretty normal acceptance speech and the next she's launched into her own vagina monologue.
'And it just kept going and going. It was pretty odd.'
That wasn't the only drama on the night - as a bomb threat later sparked an emergency evacuation at the show's after party.
Pictures showed cops arriving at London's Hackney Town Hall, where the glitzy bash was held, just before 1am, with stars spotted streaming out of the venue in their finery.
A source told The Sun: "It was surreal. One minute we were celebrating, the next we were out on the pavement wondering what was going on."
Here we take a look at previous soap awards which ended up with dramas of their own - from boozy brawls worthy of Albert Square to worse-for-wear celebs being turned away at the door.
Patsy Palmer leaves British Soap Awards host Jane McDonald and viewers shell-shocked with bizarre 'vagina' speech
Backstage brawl
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Emmerdale star Asan N'Jie got into a fight with rival soap actor Jamie Lomas at the 2019 TV Choice Awards, which ultimately cost him his job.
Asan, 31, began taunting the Hollyoaks' hardman, aiming a 'sarcastic jibe" at him.
In a scene resembling a punch-up at The Woolpack, Jamie, 50, went for the Dales star and cast members had to pull them apart.
Asan was allegedly heard threatening to knife Jamie, and a clip of the bust up shows him scream: 'Do you think you are a f*****g big man? I'm going to f*****g kill you."
He was thrown out of the bash and sacked from his role as Ellis in the show over the scuffle.
Ender Bender
Before the 2018 British Soap Awards, Jessie Wallace indulged in a sport of pre-loading - and never even made it on to the red carpet.
The EastEnders star - who plays Kat Slater - allegedly started boozing hours before the ceremony and posted a drunken picture in a taxi, at 3.47pm, with the caption: "Off to the awards we go."
But, when she carried on drinking at the bar in the venue, and refused to take her seat, EastEnders bosses booked her a cab home at 7pm.
Jessie, now 53, was said to be "furious" at being sent away.
'Self harm' controversy
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When Hollyoaks landed a Best Storyline gong at the 2018 British Soap Awards, viewers spotted Jacqueline Jossa making an ill-advised comment to fellow EastEnder Lacey Turner.
She found herself at the centre of a row after allegedly sniping: "I think they all self-harm on that show."
The EastEnders star, 32, was forced clarify her comment, saying she was referring to the winning storyline.
She posted a comment reading: "Just to clear things up, Lacey asked me what the storyline was, as we couldn't hear. I answered with, 'I'm not actually sure, I think they all self-harmed on the show'."
She added: "I haven't watched the show recently so don't actually know, but always love it and wasn't discrediting.
"I know that self-harm isn't a joke, obviously, and love any soap that tackles hard stories. It's been taken out of context!"
Trouble and strife
Jacqueline was in a fresh drama the following year, when she appeared to have a bust up with hubby Dan Osborne at the National Television Awards (NTAs) after accusing him of flirting.
A source told the Mirror the EastEnders actress burst into tears after finding Dan, 33, flirting with a group of women at the afterparty, telling him: "I want to go NOW."
Dan was reportedly keen to stay, leading to a heated exchange between the couple, who have two girls - Ella, 10, and Mia, six.
The source said: "It was awkward because everyone was having fun and they weren't hiding their fight from those around them.'
Fix claims
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BBC bosses were left fuming when Coronation Street won the Best Soap gong at the NTAs in 2010, claiming ITV had fixed the result.
The gong was awarded shortly after a three-minute video celebrating the show's 50th birthday aired at the event, but rival EastEnders, which had turned 25, was given no such tribute.
BBC insiders called the reel a "pretty blatant advert right in the middle of voting", adding: "It's as if they fixed it for Corrie."
The independent body who oversees voting cleared the organisers, saying Corrie was already winning throughout the live voting and the video has no "material impact".
Three years later ITV was accused of rigging the vote again by airing an hour-long Corrie before the show and axing Emmerdale.
A BBC source moaned: "It seems ITV will stop at nothing to win NTAs. The stars tweet reminding people to vote – then they put a big Corrie episode on moments before the show starts. It is such an obvious tactic and not the first time they have played unfairly when it comes to the NTAs."
An ITV source responded: "These claims of a fix are just sour grapes. The best soap won and our ratings are better than EastEnders, too." Ouch!
Dyer gag
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Making EastEnders hardman Danny Dyer a butt of the joke didn't pan out well for Phillip Schofield.
The pair clashed for two years running at the British Soap Awards, with the host admitting Danny was "scaring the life out of him".
In 2018, in what may have been a planned stunt, Danny got irritated at the host repeatedly asking if he was "alright".
He eventually stood and squared up to Phillip, barking: "What, you want to make one with me?"
Phil joked: "Leave it you, back off. Sit down I'm in charge here mate."
The following year Danny sat stoney-faced as Phillip made a gag about him being a fan of "trim down South" - in reference to Corrie's Trim Up North barber shop.
The actor failed to respond and turned to the person sitting next to him, ignoring Phil, who laughed awkwardly.
Host controversy
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Speaking of Phillip Schofield, he threw the awards into chaos in 2023 when he was forced to withdraw from hosting duties, following revelations of an affair with a much younger runner that he had concealed from ITV bosses.
Despite singer Jane McDonald stepping in to present the show at the last minute, protestors gathered outside the The Lowry in Salford.
Along with the soap fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their idols, people were holding placards with photographs of Schofield and his former This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby.
Bright night
Kellie Bright looked like she'd had a fabulous night as she left the Inside Soap Awards in 2017.
The 48-year-old actress - who plays landlady Linda Carter - was pictured having a snooze in the taxi home.
She'd already got in a spot of bother with screen hubby Danny Dyer, 47, after losing their Best Soap Partnership gong at the afterparty.
Hollyoaks vs Hollywood
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Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne, 43, once worked as a waiter at the British Soap Awards and says he was humiliated by the Hollyoaks cast - whom he dubbed "b*****ds".
He told Glamour magazine: "They feed all these soap stars with alcohol and then put them in the studio for the awards, so they're more rowdy and it makes for better television.
"So, as a waiter, I had to stand there with a tray waiting for them to put their empties on before going in.
"I remember this whole group of actors from Hollyoaks piling on with loads of champagne glasses and it being full, and one of them saying, 'Guys, guys, watch this! I'm going to put one more on, I'm going to put one more on...'
"And I was thinking, 'No, please don't put another...' and them smashing everywhere. All these Hollyoaks actors were in hysterics and I was like, 'You b*****ds!'"
Tumble time
Hollyoaks' Jennifer Metcalfe was less than steady on her feet when she left the 2017 Inside Soap Awards.
The Mercedes McQueen star, 41, stumbled out of the glitzy bash and had to be helped to the car as she almost took a tumble.
Those towering heels may have been the culprit.
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