TV Choice Awards joins the BRITs as latest ceremony to ditch gendered categories in favour of 'Best Performer' gong - after BAFTA forced non-binary actors to choose male or female

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 Brassic. 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 Brassic. 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 identity of each candidate for nomination'. 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'.