The TV Choice Awards has become the latest ceremony to ditch gendered ategories in favour of ‘Best Performer’ gongs. 

It has been the debate among the award ceremonies in recent years as to how categories ensure they are inclusive of non-binary performers, with the BRITs the first to go gender-neutral while the BAFTAs decided against it. 

The 2025 TV Choice Awards are taking place on Monday night at The London Hilton on Park Lane where it will be hosted by comedian Jason Manford.

But gone are the Best Soap Actor and Best Soap Actress gongs, replaced by a Best Soap Performer award which is open to anyone who played a role in a recurring show.

Similarly, the Drama category has been streamlined into one award while the newly-added Comedy category has received the same treatment.

The Best Soap Newcomer award completes the list of new honours available to actors and actresses at this year’s show. 

The TV Choice Awards has become the latest ceremony to ditch gendered ategories in favour of ‘Best Performer’ gong

Another awards ceremony to no longer have gendered categories is The BRIT Awards after it adopted a gender-neutral approach in 2022 (Seen is Sam Smith)

Nicola Coughlan is the sole performer up for one more prize, nominated for Best Drama Performance in Netflix’s Bridgerton and Best Comedy Performance in C4’s Big Mood. 

She will battle it out with Michelle Keegan for the former category, with her rival up for her star turn in Sky Max’s Brᴀssic.

Also nominated are David Mitchell for his role in Ludwig and Charlotte Ritchie, who put in a critically-acclaimed display in Ghosts.

In the Best Drama Performance stakes, the actress, 38, is competing against Brenda Blethyn in Vera, Toby Jones in Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, and Luke Newton in Bridgerton. 

As for Best Soap Performance, the nominees are Peter Ash (Paul Foreman) for Coronation Street, Eden Taylor-Draper (Belle King) for Emmerdale, Angela Wynter (Yolande Trueman) for EastEnders, and Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle) for Emmerdale.

The Best Soap Newcomer nominees include Jack Carroll (Bobby Crawford) for Coronation Street, Beth Cordingly (Ruby Fox-Milligan) for Emmerdale, Isabelle Smith (Frankie Osborne) for Hollyoaks, and Sydney Martin (Betsy Swain) for Coronation Street.

Another awards ceremony to no longer have gendered categories is The BRIT Awards after it adopted a gender-neutral approach in 2022. 

Among the new categories was Best Male Solo Artist (a move widely thought at the time to have been driven by non-binary singer Sam Smith). 

Nicola Coughlan is the sole performer up for one more prize, nominated for Best Drama Performance in Bridgerton and Best Comedy Performance in C4’s Big Mood (pictured)

She will battle it out with Michelle Keegan for the former category, with her rival up for her star turn in Sky Max’s Brᴀssic

Adele, who won Best British Artist in 2022, said on stage: ‘I understand why the name of this award has changed but I really love being a woman and being a female artist.’ 

In 2023 there was outrage after the Best British Artist shortlist was all-male.

But a year later a subsequent tweak was made to the category – which doubled in size and saw more of a balanced mix, with six of its ten nominees established female artists. 

At its 2024 nomination announcement, the British Phonograph Industry – who organise the annual event – admitted gender balance has been readdressed following 2023’s all-male nominees.

BPI Chair Yolanda Brown, said: ‘We shared our upset that no women or R&B artists were represented last year.

‘We consulted with our advisory group, we thought long and hard about moving forward.’ 

BAFTA dealt a blow to nonbinary performers, deciding that awards nominees will have to choose whether they want to compete as ‘actors’ or ‘actresses’ (Pictured: Emma Corrin)

The announcement places non-binary performers – like Emma Corrin, Emma D’Arcy (left) and Bella Ramsey (right) – in a tricky position

But BAFTA dealt a blow to nonbinary performers, deciding – after spending two years debating the thorny question of ‘gendered’ acting categories – that awards nominees will have to pick a side and choose whether they want to compete as ‘actors’ or ‘actresses’. 

The announcement places non-binary performers – like Emma Corrin, Emma D’Arcy and Bella Ramsey – in a tricky position. 

Revised guidelines released last year say that film producers must ‘confirm the gender/gender idenтιтy of each candidate for nomination’. 

Read More Yellowjackets’ nonbinary star Liv Hewson will NOT compete for an Emmy Award due to gendered categories: ‘There’s not a place for me’

A source adds: ‘It is up to the entrant which category they enter into.’ 

Following the decision in 2022 by their music counterparts the Brit Awards to go gender neutral, BAFTA revealed that they were engaged in ‘proactive and thoughtful consultation’ on the subject of gendered acting categories and were speaking to ‘sector peers, industry stakeholders and experts’.

Ultimately, though, they opted to make no change, effectively shutting out the growing band of non-binary performers. 

A BAFTA spokesman said that while the actor and actress categories remained, the certificate and mask could carry the term ‘performer’ if that was preferred by the winner.

In 2022, the Oscars and the Tonys also started consultations on the possibility of gender neutral categories, but both organisations have retained their ‘Best Actress’ and ‘Best Actor’ categories. 

The Brits no longer have gendered categories, such as Best Male Solo Artist – a move widely thought to be driven by non-binary singer Sam Smith (pictured this month 

The debate over gender neutral categories has proved to be a controversial one in recent years.

The Crown star Emma – who uses they/them pronouns – previously claimed that awards ceremonies aren’t ‘inclusive enough’ and said change would enable everyone to feel ‘acknowledged and represented.’

Speaking to the BBC’s Today Programme about the possibility of gender neutral categories at major awards shows, Emma said: ‘I hope for a future in which that happens.

‘I don’t think the categories are inclusive enough at the moment. It’s about everyone being able to feel acknowledged and represented.’

TV Choice Awards 2025: The nominations

BEST DRAMA SERIES 

All Creatures Great And Small, C5 

Bridgerton, Netflix 

House Of The Dragon, Sky Atlantic

 Vera, ITV1 

 

BEST NEW DRAMA 

Baby Reindeer, Netflix 

Fool Me Once, Netflix 

Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, ITV1

 Nightsleeper, BBC1 

BEST COMEDY SHOW 

Big Mood, C4 

Brᴀssic, Sky Max 

Ghosts, BBC1 

Young Sheldon, E4

 

BEST ENTERTAINMENT SHOW 

Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, ITV1 

Gogglebox/Celebrity Gogglebox, C4 

The Graham Norton Show, BBC1 

Race Across The World/Celebrity Race Across The World, BBC1 

 

BEST REALITY SHOW 

Big Brother/Celebrity Big Brother, ITV1/ITV2 

First Dates/Teen First Dates, C4 

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, ITV1 

The Traitors, BBC1 

 

BEST SOAP 

Coronation Street, ITV1 

Doctors, BBC1 

EastEnders, BBC1 

Emmerdale, ITV1 

 

BEST SOAP PERFORMANCE 

Peter Ash, Paul Foreman, Coronation Street, ITV1 

Eden Taylor-Draper, Belle King, Emmerdale, ITV1 

Angela Wynter, Yolande Trueman, EastEnders, BBC1 

Jeff Hordley, Cain Dingle, Emmerdale, ITV1 

 

BEST FOOD SHOW 

Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted/Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted Showdown, National Geographic/Disney+ 

The Hairy Bikers Go West, BBC2 

James Martin’s Saturday Morning, ITV1 

Saturday Kitchen, BBC1 

 

BEST FACTUAL SHOW 

24 Hours In Police Custody, C4 

Clarkson’s Farm, Prime Video 

The Footage Detectives, Talking Pictures TV 

Springtime On The Farm/Harvest On The Farm/Winter On The Farm, C5 

BEST FAMILY DRAMA 

Call The Midwife , BBC1 

Casualty, BBC1 

Doctor Who , BBC1 

Waterloo Road, BBC1 

 

BEST DRAMA PERFORMANCE 

Brenda Blethyn,  Vera, ITV1 

Nicola Coughlan , Bridgerton, Netflix 

Toby Jones, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, ITV1 

Luke Newton, Bridgerton, Netflix    

 

BEST COMEDY PERFORMANCE

Nicola Coughlan, Big Mood, C4 

Michelle Keegan , Brᴀssic, Sky Max

David Mitchell  Ludwig, BBC1

Charlotte Ritchie, Ghosts, BBC1 

 

BEST GAMESHOW 

The 1% Club, ITV1 

The Chase/The Chase Celebrity Special, ITV1 

Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, BBC1 

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, ITV1

 

BEST TALENT SHOW 

Britain’s Got Talent, ITV1 

The Great British Bake Off/The Great Celebrity Bake Off For Stand Up To Cancer/ Bake Off: The Professionals/Junior Bake Off/The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, C4 

The Masked Singer, ITV1 

Strictly Come Dancing/Strictly It Takes Two, BBC1/BBC2

 

BEST SOAP NEWCOMER 

Jack Carroll, Bobby Crawford, Coronation Street, ITV1 

Beth Cordingly, Ruby Fox-Milligan, Emmerdale, ITV1 

Isabelle Smith, Frankie Osborne, Hollyoaks, E4/C4 streaming 

Sydney Martin, Betsy Swain, Coronation Street, ITV1

 

BEST DAYTIME SHOW 

Animal Park, BBC1 

Escape To The Country/I Escaped To The Country, BBC1 

Loose Women, ITV1 

This Morning, ITV1 

 

BEST LIFESTYLE SHOW 

Long Lost Family/Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace, ITV1 

The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV1 

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, BBC2 

Sort Your Life Out, BBC1

 

FAVOURITE CHANNEL/STREAMING SERVICE 

BBC 

iPlayer 

Channel 5 

Netflix 

Talking Pictures TV