Corrie leads British Soap Awards shortlist... closely followed by EastEnders

They are arguably the most hotly debated TV awards in the UK, and this year is no different.
As the shortlist for the British Soap Awards was announced on Monday, ITV's favourite Coronation Street has stormed almost every category with 18 nods.

This is followed by BBC 1's EastEnders with 17, Hollyoaks with 16, fellow ITV show Emmerdale with 14 and nine for daytime programme Doctors.

Cobbles vs. the Square: Fizz, played by Jennie McAlpine is up against Kat, played by Jessie Wallace

Michelle Keegan - who plays Weatherfield's Tina McIntyre - is up for two nominations this year.
She will battle it out for Sexiest Female against her co-star Georgia May Foote, EastEnders Jacqueline Jossa, Emmerdale s Natalie Anderson and Hollyoaks babe Jorgie Porter.

Michelle will also go up against co-star Jennie McAlpine, EastEnders pair Jessie Wallace and Nina Wadia, as well as Hollyoaks Claire Cooper for the Best Actress accolade.

The demise of Derek: EastEnders producers are up for the best storyline category

Sexiest female: Corrie's Tina, played by Michelle Keegan goes up against EastEnders' fiery Lauren, played by Jacqueline Jossa

Determined: Tyrone's abuse at the hands of his 'wife' made it to the shortlist for most dramatic storyline

Taking sides: Will viewers vote for the abuse storyline over the BBC's EastEnders? 

Coronation Street s Alan Halsall is in the running for Best Actor against EastEnders Nitin Ganatra and Shane Richie, Emmerdale s Jeff Hordley and Hollyoaks Emmet J. Scanlan, who is also up for Villain of the Year.

Emmet faces stiff competition from Coronation Street s Natalie Gumede and Nigel Havers, EastEnders bad boy Jamie Foreman and Emmerdale s Dominic Power.

Hollyoaks takes the lead in the Sexiest Male category with two nominations for Danny Mac and Kieron Richardson, who are up against Coronation Street s Tommy Duckworth, EastEnders David Witts and Emmerdale s Matthew Wolfenden.

No smoke without fire: Derek breaks the smoking ban inside the Queen Vic as he is named as Kat's lover - a storyline which surprised viewers

Doctors: The afternoon BBC favourite is up for Best British Soap

In addition to the five main accolades, the nominations for the panel-voted categories have also been revealed by the organisers today (22.04.13).

These include Best Newcomer, Best On-Screen partnership - which sees Alan and Jennie up for another award for Tyrone and Fiz s relationship - and Best Comedy Performance.

Hollyoaks: Chester beauty Jorgie Porter is also in the frame for sexiest female 

There will also be the Special Achievement and Lifetime Achievements at the event, which are expected to be announced during the ceremony.

Voting is currently open for viewer categories on the British Soap Awards website and will remain open until the night, Friday May 17.

GANGSTERS, BEAUTIES AND TRECHERY: THE FULL LIST OF NOMINEES FOR THE BRITISH SOAP AWARDS

Sexiest Female
Georgia May Foote (Katy Armstrong,  Coronation Street)
Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre,  Coronation Street)
Jacqueline Jossa (Lauren Branning,  EastEnders)
Natalie Anderson (Alicia Gallagher,  Emmerdale)
Jorgie Porter (Theresa McQueen,  Hollyoaks)

Villain of the Year
Natalie Gumede (Kirsty Soames, Coronation Street)
Nigel Havers (Lewis Archer, Coronation Street)
Jamie Foreman (Derek Branning, EastEnders)
Dominic Power (Cameron Murray, Emmerdale)
Emmett J. Scanlan (Brendan Brady, Hollyoaks)

Best Actor
Alan Halsall (Tyrone Dobbs,  Coronation Street )
Nitin Ganatra (Masood Ahmed,  EastEnders )
Shane Richie (Alfie Moon,  EastEnders)
Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle,  Emmerdale)
Emmett J. Scanlan (Brendan Brady,  Hollyoaks)

Best Actress
Jennie McAlpine (Fiz Stape,  Coronation Street)
Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre,  Coronation Street)
Jessie Wallace (Kat Moon,  EastEnders)
Nina Wadia (Zainab Khan,  EastEnders)
Claire Cooper (Jacqui McQueen,  Hollyoaks)

Best British Soap
Coronation Street
Doctors
EastEnders
Emmerdale
Hollyoaks

Best Newcomer
Marc Baylis (Rob Donovan,  Coronation Street )
Ian Midlane (Doctor Al Haskey,  Doctors )
Khali Best (Dexter Hartman,  EastEnders )
Laura Norton (Kerry Wyatt,  Emmerdale )
Joseph Thompson (Doctor Paul Browning,  Hollyoaks )

Best Exit
Nigel Havers (Lewis Archer,  Coronation Street )
Lu Corfield (Freya Wilson,  Doctors )
Jamie Foreman (Derek Branning,  EastEnders )
Tom Lister (Carl King,  Emmerdale )
Emmett J. Scanlan (Brendan Brady,  Hollyoaks )

Best Comedy Performance
Patti Clare (Mary Taylor,  Coronation Street )
Ian Kelsey (Howard Bellamy,  Doctors )
Ricky Norwood (Arthur  Fatboy  Chubb,  EastEnders )
Dominic Brunt (Paddy Kirk,  Emmerdale )
Nicole Barber-Lane (Myra McQueen,  Hollyoaks )

Best On-Screen Partnership
Jennie McAlpine and Alan Halsall (Fiz Stape and Tyrone Dobbs,  Coronation Street )
Matthew Chambers and Elisabeth Dermot Walsh (Doctor Daniel Granger and Doctor Zara Carmichael,  Doctors )
Nitin Ganatra and Nina Wadia (Masood Ahmed and Zainab Khan,  EastEnders )
Lucy Pargeter and Dominic Power (Chas Spencer and Cameron Murray,  Emmerdale )
Emmett J. Scanlan and Kieron Richardson (Brendan Brady and Ste Hay,  Hollyoaks )

Best Dramatic Performance
Natalie Gumede (Kirsty Soames, Coronation Street)
Dido Miles (Doctor Emma Reid, Doctors)
Jo Joyner (Tanya Cross, EastEnders)
Lucy Pargeter (Chas Spencer, Emmerdale)
Claire Cooper (Jacqui McQueen, Hollyoaks)

Best Young Performance
Ellie Leach (Faye Windass,  Coronation Street )
Maisie Smith (Tiffany Butcher,  EastEnders )
Eden Taylor-Draper (Belle Dingle,  Emmerdale )
Ellis Hollins (Tom Osborne,  Hollyoaks )

Spectacular Scene of the Year
The Rovers fire (Coronation Street)
Julia s car crash (Doctors)
The Olympic torch comes live to Walford (EastEnders)
Cain s clifftop rescue of Zak (Emmerdale)
The bus crash (Hollyoaks)

Best Episode
Kirsty's treachery ends in Tyrone's arrest (Coronation Street)
The Scales  (Doctors)
The identity of Kat s lover is revealed ( EastEnders )
 Emmerdale Live  (Emmerdale)
The bus crash (Hollyoaks)

Best Storyline
Kirsty s abuse of Tyrone (Coronation Street)
Sam s assisted suicide (Doctors)
The demise of Derek Branning (EastEnders)
Zak s depression (Emmerdale)
Esther s bullying (Hollyoaks)