Jane McDonald will host this year’s British Soap Awards after Phillip Schofield’s departure from ITV, the broadcaster has announced.
The former Loose Women star described landing the gig as “a dream come true” after being drafted in at the 11th hour.
ITV said Phillip would no longer host the annual ceremony after he left the channel last week, having admitted he had a “consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague” on This Morning, which he said was “unwise, but not illegal”.
Jane, said in a statement: “Oh my god…..everyone knows how much I LOVE my soaps, this year I’ve been honoured to be mentioned in Corrie, EastEnders and Emmerdale, so this is just a dream come true.
“I can’t wait to see all our wonderful soap nominees and celebrate all their hard work with them - roll on the awards, I can’t wait!”
News of Jane’s appointment landed well on social media...
The Soap Awards will see Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks battle it out to win recognition for their work over the past year.
It will be filmed at The Lowry in Salford on Saturday, before airing on Tuesday at 8pm on ITV1.
News of the Soap Awards’ new host comes a day after ITV said it has instructed a barrister to carry out an external review of the facts following Phillip’s departure from This Morning and subsequent press statements.