ITV viewers were left disappointed during the British Soap Awards 2022 as Gillian Wright missed out on several gongs for her portrayal of EastEnders favourite Jean Slater.
Gillian was up for Best Storyline and Best Dramatic Performance as well as Best Scene, but lost out to Mark Charnock and Hollyoaks’ Misbah storyline about historic rape.
Gillian was commended for her portrayal of Jean’s bipolar disorder diagnosis, leaving many ITV viewers disappointed she failed to clinch gongs at the prestigious soap event.
Taking to Twitter after Gillian lost her second gong, many said the actress was “robbed” after a “phenomenal” performance.
One wrote: “What does Gillian Wright have to do to win? No disrespect to the others but she's been unbelievable during this storyline, and I have watched all the other soaps as well.”
A second said: “Gillian Wright not winning all these awards is criminal.”
A third tweeted: “In my opinion, Gillian Wright is one of very few actors that doesn't seem the same out of character. How she doesn't get recognised enough is beyond me.”
Another said: “Gillian Wright has been consistently brilliant as Jean, if viewers were voting reckon she'd have cleaned up tonight....”
One concluded: “It's utterly insane that Gillian Bright/EastEnders have not won any awards for that brilliant southend episode! Madness!”
The Soap Awards returned on Sunday night on ITV for an evening of continuing drama glitz and glamour after a two year absence due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The events saw the biggest soaps go head to head, as host Phillip Schofield returned to roll out the red carpet at The Hackney Empire in London.
Soap actors from the likes of Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Doctors vied for Soap Award gongs as this year saw the awards become gender-neutral for the first time, with actors including Mark Charnock and Paige Sandhu battling it out for Best Leading Performer.
The ceremony is usually hosted in London or Manchester in recognition of where the soaps are set, with this year falling to London as the Hackney Empire welcomed stars of the small screen to celebrate.
The show was in safe hands with This Morning ’s Phillip, who has been at the helm since 2006 and hosted solo since 2009, having co-hosted from 2006 to 2008 with his former This Morning colleague Fern Britton.
Previous hosts have included Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, Matthew Kelly, Melanie Sykes and Des O'Connor, and Paul O'Grady.
The awards are split into viewer voted categories and panel voted categories decided by industry experts.
The annual British Soap Awards returned on ITV with a brand new public-voted gong for Best Family awarded at the event.
While the majority of the award nominations were announced prior to the event, the recipients of two other awards – the Outstanding Achievement Award and the Tony Warren Award – were announced on the night.
