Jane McDonald spoke out to 'defend' the panel who chose the winners of this year's British Soap Awards over the 'tough' choices they faced, as some of the results from this year's ceremony were called into question by angry viewers at home.
Jane, who shot to fame in the 90s on BBC docu-soap The Cruise, was announced at the end of last week as the new presenter for the annual event, replacing Phillip Schofield after his controversial exit from ITV, in the immediate aftermath of his This Morning affair admission.
The majority of the Soap Awards are voted for by a panel of industry experts and TV journalists and, not long into the ITV broadcast, when it came to the accolade for Best Dramatic Performance, Jane spoke out to reveal that the panel had a 'tough' time deciding on the winner.
READ MORE: Jane McDonald has British Soap Awards viewers making ITV demand moments into show
And she gave the same explanation later on in the evening, when it came to handing out the award for Best Young Performer. Jane's statements about how difficult the judges' decision had been, came as the winners on the night massively divided opinion on the night.
The first one to cause a stir on Twitter was the trophy for Best Single Episode, with many EastEnders fans furious that Dot's Funeral was snubbed, with Coronation Street's Acid Attack, instead taking the honours. One upset viewer tweeted: "The fact the acid attack episode has won the Best Single Episode award over Dot Branning's funeral is a travesty and utter joke!""
And, expressing their disappointment at the winners on the whole, another posted: "I’m so gutted with this years Soap Award results, but I can’t say I’m surprised really"
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