IT’S the British Soap Awards tomorrow night – and I’ll be backstage to report what happens.
Coronation Street’s Michelle Keegan is nominated as Best Newcomer, fully deserved even after just a few months on screen.
Teen rebel Tina McIntyre, played by Michelle, reminds many of a young Suranne Jones as Karen McDonald.
I spoke to Michelle earlier this week for a pre-awards feature in today’s MEN.
The online version is here.
It’s always refreshing to talk to young actors at the start of their careers.
As you’ll read in the TV feature, Salford-born actress Michelle didn’t know where to sit when she first went into the Green Room.
Rather sweetly, she even thought she had to ask to go to the toilet during her first photoshoot.

COULD Coronation Street be flooded?
That’s the question after an online revelation by former producer Steve Frost.
Watered down bitter in the Rovers will be the least of the regulars’ worries if the storyline goes ahead.
You can also take your pick of possible headlines, from Cor-row-nation Street to the Row-vers Return via Coronation Fleet.
Steve, who left the cobbles last month, told itv.com: “I would love to have flooded the Street.
“It would have been great to see a natural weather disaster on the Street.
“And we did speak about it. We keep touching on it, thinking, ‘Can we tank the whole street, can we fill it with water?’
“I really just fell in love at one point with the idea of somebody in a rowing boat coming round the corner by the Rovers, people climbing out of the top floor of the Rovers into rowing boats.

IT’S not exactly a mass exodus.
But Coronation Street confirmed today that seven cast members have been axed by new producer Kim Crowther.
Fans of the cobbles won’t be surprised to learn their identities.
The entire Morton clan, led by kebab shop owner Jerry, is going.
Also departing Weatherfield are father and son bookies Harry and Dan Mason.
I spoke to ITV Granada earlier today about the decisions.
Michael Starke played Sinbad in Brookside for 16 years.
But news of his eventual departure as Jerry comes just over a year after the character was first seen on screen.
Many viewers felt the Mortons failed to fit in to the Weatherfield soap jigsaw.

THERE’S a regular Coronation Street kite flyer in one of the tabloids today.
The headline screams: “Corrie’s legends face large axe.”
It’s an old favourite on a quiet news day.
Wait for a new producer to arrive, in this case Kim Crowther.
Add in whatever you want in terms of cast members facing the axe – young, old or Schmeichel the dog.
And then stir.
It won’t surprise you to learn that today’s story is a load of old hot pot.
Up to five of Weatherfield’s longest serving actors could be gone by the end of the year, it claims.
It’s billed as both a “cost-cutting cull” and a move to “freshen up” the soap.

FORMER Coronation Street star Bruce Jones admits he’s found it hard to escape the shadow of layabout Les Battersby.
In a revealing edition of Celebrity Wife Swap tomorrow night, he says his wife Sandra calls him Les every morning.
She even reckons her idle husband – axed from the show last year – must have written some of the Corrie scripts.
“He wasn’t acting,” insists Sandra.
Bruce broke down in tears while filming the swap with former pop star Sinitta, as you can read in the online version of yesterday’s MEN Pg 3 story here.
Our Good Friday story – see image below – has been picked up by others today.
It’s also sparked a debate on the main MEN site about whether Street bosses should have a change of heart and bring Les back.

THE headline today seems pretty clear.
“Corrie to plan a stage musical.”
But before you rush off to buy best available in the Royal Circle, I should let you know something.
It’s not true.
The tabloid responsible for the story about a Coronation Street invasion of the West End is just a touch off key.
ITV executive Dawn Airey often talks about exploiting the network’s key brands in more effective and creative ways.
And she was thinking aloud recently about what might follow the example of Bad Girls: The Musical.
Dawn was quoted as saying: “Loose Women would be ideal.

FANS still live in hope that Spider Nugent will one day return to the cobbles.
Not that actor Martin Hancock has stood still since eco warrior Geoffrey was last seen in Coronation Street.
And you can see him today, guest starring as a baddie called Chuckworth (pictured) in BBC1’s MI High.
If you’re not familiar with the CBBC series, it’s a teen spy drama set in a high school.
Today’s episode, screened at 5pm, finds the teen spies stunned when spymaster Lenny is arrested for a jewel robbery.
But I think we might be able to guess who the real thief is.
Spider arrived in Weatherfield in 1997 and is still fondly remembered today.

WAS there a subtle tribute to Liz Dawn in Coronation Street’s farewell to Vera Duckworth?
That’s the question I asked here last Wednesday.
Well, I’ve since had a chance to take some screengrabs.
They show members of the cast walking into two separate diagonal lines, as the hearse drove away.
And whether it was deliberate or not, the two lines definitely spell out V for Vera.
Check out the screengrabs below and judge for yourself, keeping an eye on both the foreground and background.

PERHAPS it’s just me.
Was there a subtle tribute to actress Liz Dawn and the character she played for 33 years in Coronation Street’s final farewell to Vera Duckworth?
I’ve not seen a comment on it anywhere, so maybe I saw what I wanted to see on Vera’s funeral day.
We’d already watched a large number of Corrie residents gather on the cobbles to pay their respects.
As the Co-op hearse carrying Vera’s coffin to the crematorium drove away from No 9 and past the Rovers, the camera swung slowly upwards.
And looking down back along Coronation Street, the majority of the cast fell into two separate diagonal lines – spelling out V for Vera.

ITV say no final decision has been made about its future.
But it’s plain this morning that Coronation Street star Antony Cotton’s teatime chat show has been axed.
Having said that, fans of the talented Bury actor need not despair.
Antony, 32, is set to return with a new format later this year.
And he’s said to be firmly in the plans of ITV1’s daytime controller.
Antony hosted 25 editions of his teatime talk series last year.
That Antony Cotton Show, recorded at ITV Granada’s Manchester studios, began in August with two million viewers.
But ratings for the mix of celebrity chat and games later fell to around 1.1m in the face of Channel 4 hit Deal Or No Deal.
ITV is now talking to the Corrie favourite about a number of other ideas, including a possible game show, aside from his role in Weatherfield.