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EXCLUSIVE: FORMER CORONATION STREET STAR HELEN FLANAGAN HAS SHARED HER THOUGHTS ON THE SEXIEST FEMALE AND SEXIEST MALE CATEGORIES BEING AXED FROM THE BRITISH SOAP AWARDS 08:00, 31 May 2025

Helen Flanagan has revealed she "hated" being nominated for Sexiest Female at the British Soap Awards. The 34-year-old actress shot to fame in 2000 as Coronation Street favourite

Rosie Webster. During her time in Weatherfield, she took centre stage in several gripping storylines but instead she'd find herself being judged on her appearance instead of her acting.

She often found herself nominated in the Sexiest Female category in the glitzy awards bash but in 2015 bosses decided to axe the award alongside Sexiest Male. The decision was made in

favour of a storyline-based category that acknowledged issues of wider significance and Helen says that this was the right thing to do. Article continues belowREAD MORE: 'I'd love

to do Strictly Come Dancing but there's one problem' says Helen FlanaganREAD MORE: Coronation Street's Helen Flanagan ready for 'fresh start' as she shares

'exciting' news Speaking at the WhichBingo Awards, Helen said: "It's about acting really isn't it and not about your appearance. "It's probably a really

dated thing really which needed to go and also it's not a beauty pageant. "You are on the show for your acting talent and women are all beautiful in our own way. "I always

used to go nominated for it and to be honest with you and I always used to hate it." "I do feel maybe growing up in the public eye made me more aware of my appearance in maybe not

the best way and people can be quite mean." Sexiest Male and Sexiest Female were two of the awards voted for by viewers each year, alongside Best Actor, Best Actress, Villain of the

Year and the coveted prize for Best British Soap. The 2025 British Soap Awards return tonight (Saturday, May 31) where some of the biggest stars in continuing drama are set to appear at the

glamorous event where four iconic shows go head to head. Article continues below Following a hiatus last year, the ceremony is moving ahead once again this year with Coronation Street,

EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks all vying for recognition after another dramatic year of storytelling. Nominations have been split fairly equally between the four long-running programmes

with Emmerdale and EastEnders inching slightly ahead with 13 nods, compared to 11 for Corrie and Hollyoaks. THE BRITISH SOAP AWARDS AIRS ON ITV1 AND ITVX AT 8PM ON THURSDAY, JUNE 5