British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer

British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer
The 2025 recipient: Lacey Turner
CountryUnited Kingdom
First award2022
Final award2025

The British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer was an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards. The award was introduced to the ceremony in 2022, succeeding the categories for Best Actress and Best Actor as a gender neutral replacement. Alongside accolades including Best British Soap and Villain of the Year, the award was voted for by the public. An initial longlist was announced, and after an initial round of voting, the performers with the highest number of votes would advance to the shortlist, after which voting was opened for a second time. The final accolade was awarded to EastEnders actress Lacey Turner.

Winners and nominees

Woman with dark brown hair wearing a mint green dress and matching eyeshadow smiling.
2022 winner Paige Sandhu.
Woman with platinum blonde hair smiling.
2023 winner Danielle Harold.
Woman with light brown hair smiling.
2025 winner Lacey Turner.
Year Winner Shortlisted Longlisted
2022 Paige Sandhu (Meena Jutla in Emmerdale)
2023 Danielle Harold (Lola Pearce-Brown in EastEnders)
2025 Lacey Turner (Stacey Slater in EastEnders)

Wins and nominations by soap

Soap opera Wins Shortlist nominations
EastEnders 2 4
Emmerdale 1 5
Coronation Street 0 2
Doctors 0 0
Hollyoaks 0 0

Notes

  1. ↑ These performers were voted through to the shortlist round.
  2. ↑ These performers were unsuccessful in being voted through to the shortlist.
  3. ↑ These nominations did not result in a win.

References

  1. ↑ Frost, Caroline (17 April 2022). "British Soap Awards Go Gender-Neutral: TV Stars Battle For Best Leading Performer". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Cremona, Patrick (10 May 2022). "British Soap Awards 2022 nominations shortlist confirmed". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  3. ↑ Houghton, Rianne (21 April 2022). "British Soap Awards 2022 reveals longlist for viewer categories". Digital Spy. (Hearst Communications). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  4. ↑ Cormack, Morgan (11 April 2023). "British Soap Awards 2023 longlist: EastEnders' Ravi vs Corrie's Stephen". Radio Times. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel. "British Soap Awards 2025 announces first nominees as Corrie, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks compete". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 April 2025.