[Ross.]

​It's the big moment that all soap fans have been waiting for - longlist voting for the British Soap Awards 2016 has officially opened.

A host of stars from Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks have made the longlist for the Best Actor and Best Actress prizes - and we couldn't be more excited to bring you the full collection of nominees.

Last year, these categories were judged with a 50/50 split between public votes and an expert panel of judges - but the good news is that they've been put solely back into the hands of the viewers for the 2016 event.

As always, soap fans will also have the chance to vote for the coveted Best British Soap prize.

The full longlist follows below:

Best Actor

Jack P Shepherd (David Platt, Coronation Street)

Ben Price (Nick Tilsley, Coronation Street)

Alan Halsall (Tyrone Dobbs, Coronation Street)

Matthew Chambers (Dr Daniel Granger, Doctors)

Owen Brenman (Dr Heston Carter, Doctors)

Ian Midlane (Dr Al Haskey, Doctors)

James Bye (Martin Fowler, EastEnders)

Danny Dyer (Mick Carter, EastEnders)

Davood Ghadami (Kush Kazemi, EastEnders)

Danny Miller (Aaron Livesy, Emmerdale)

John Middleton (Ashley Thomas, Emmerdale)

Dominic Brunt (Paddy Kirk, Emmerdale)

Kieron Richardson (Ste Hay, Hollyoaks)

Charlie Clapham (Freddie Roscoe, Hollyoaks)

Ashley Taylor Dawson (Darren Osborne, Hollyoaks)


Best Actress

Alison King (Carla Connor, Coronation Street)

Paula Lane (Kylie Platt, Coronation Street )

Kate Ford (Tracy Barlow, Coronation Street)

Lorna Laidlaw (Mrs Tembe, Doctors)

Jan Pearson (Karen Hollins, Doctors)

Laura Rollins (Ayesha Lee, Doctors)

Diane Parish (Denise Fox, EastEnders)

Rakhee Thakrar (Shabnam Masood, EastEnders)

Lacey Turner (Stacey Branning, EastEnders)

Lucy Pargeter (Chas Dingle, Emmerdale)

Zoe Henry (Rhona Goskirk, Emmerdale)

Charlotte Bellamy (Laurel Thomas, Emmerdale)

Jennifer Metcalfe (Mercedes McQueen, Hollyoaks)

Nadine Mulkerrin (Cleo McQueen, Hollyoaks)

Nikki Sanderson (Maxine Blake, Hollyoaks)


Best British Soap

Coronation Street

Doctors

EastEnders

Emmerdale

Hollyoaks

The competition for votes will no doubt be bigger than ever this year, as EastEnders secured the Best British Soap prize with a narrow winning margin of just 0.15% in 2015. They're not lying when they say that every vote counts!

Votes can be cast now via the official British Soap Awards website. Details of the other categories, which are judged by the panel, will be revealed at a later date. The ceremony will take place at London's Hackney Empire theatre in May.

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/east...-stars-are-up/

Vote here: http://www.britishsoapawards.tv/

slay me at the James, Lacey and Rakhee noms