Actress Denise Welch received a special award at the British Soap Awards for her appearances at Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and Eastenders.

Welch will present the Best Newcomer award at the ceremony, but he will be surprised when she reveals that she is actually about to receive a special award.

Wales said “thank you very much” because she received a trophy that quoted all four shows and then joked that she didn’t mind which show won the best soap at the event because “I’ve been on all the shows”.

The ceremony took place last weekend but aired on ITV on Thursday, with some viewers affectionately declaring Welch as “Queen of England”.

Welch will be attending the Best Newcomer at the event and walks on stage with former EastEnders star Martin Kemp, and introduces the category.

But once on the podium, Kemp said, “I need to mention something very special before we move forward further.

“Now, this year, Denise appears as a juror in Tom King’s court case.

"That means she is the only actor who plays a big role in Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Eastenders and Emmerdale. So Denise Tonight we want to give you a special award tonight."

Kemp's wife Shirlie then joined the couple on stage, handing the Chee Award to Denise-named because each letter represents the soap she used to be.

The trophy includes memorable items from each show, including cobblestones on Coronation Street, Wellington boots from Emmerdale, the dog tags from Hollyoaks Pond Bar, and the ears of Eastenders character Pat Butcher.

Denise accepted the award and said, "Thank you so much!" added, "Hey, mom and dad, I won a face."

She joked, “When the press says ‘You want to win the best soap, what do I say?’ I said, “Well, I don’t mind because I’m already involved. ''

The audience shared their reactions and good wishes on social media on the air, one said they were “crying”, another commented that it was “good to see her receive the award”, while one viewer declared Wales’ “Queen of England”.

EastEnders was the biggest winner of the night, winning eight awards including Best British Soap.

The ceremony was held in the Hackney Empire and was hosted by singer and loose female star Jane McDonald.

Best single

Coronation Street: Mason's Death

Winner: EastEnders: Phil's Psychiatric: Mitchells of 1985

Emmerdale: Life on the Street in April

Hollyoaks: Hollyoaks Time Jump

Annual scenario

Coronation Street: Mason's Death

Winner: EastEnders: Angie Watts' Shock Return

Emmerdale: Amy's death toll reveals a secret

Hollyoaks: Mercedes faces her death rate

Best newcomer

Coronation Street: Jacob Roberts (Kit Green)

EastEnders: Laura Doddington (Nicola Mitchell)

Emmerdale: Shebz Miah (Kammy Hadiq)

Winner: Hollyoaks: Isabelle Smith (Frankie Osborne)

Villain of the Year

Coronation Street: Calum Lill (Joel Deering)

Winner: EastEnders: Navin Chowdhry (Nish Panesar)

Emmerdale: Ned Porteous (Joe Tate)

Hollyoaks: Tyler Conti (Abe)

The best family

Coronation Street: Platz

EastEnders: Slaters

Emmerdale: Dingles

Winner: Hollyoaks: Osbornes

Best dramatic performance

Coronation Street: Paul Foreman

Winner: EastEnders: Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell)

Emmerdale: Eden Taylor-Draper (Belle Dingle)

Hollyoaks: Isabelle Smith (Frankie Osborne)

The best screen partnership

Coronation Street: Alison King & Vicky Myers (Carla Connor & Lisa Swain)

Winners: EastEnders: Rudolph Walker and Angela Wynter (Patrick & Yolande Trueman)

Emmerdale: William Ash & Beth Cordely (Caleb Miligan & Ruby Fox-Miligan)

Hollyoaks: Nathaniel Dass & Oscar Curtis (Dillon Ray & Lucas Hay)

Best Comedy Show

Coronation Street: Jack P. Shepard (David Platt)

Winner: EastEnders: Patsy Palmer (Bianca Jackson)

Emmerdale: Nicola Wheeler (Nicola King)

Hollyoaks: Nicole Barber-Lane (Myra McQueen)

The best storyline

Coronation Street: Paul’s Battle with MND

EastEnders: Phil Mitchell: Super Masculinity in Crisis

Emmerdale: Belle & Tom - Domestic Abuse

Winner: Hollyoaks: Sibling Sexual Abuse

The best young performer

Coronation Street: Will Flanagan (Joseph Winter-Brown)

EastEnders: Sonny Kendall (Tommy Moon)

Winner: Emmerdale: Amelia Flanagan (April Windsor)

Hollyoaks: Noah Holdsworth (Oscar Osborne)

The best leading performers

Emmerdale: Eden Taylor-Draper (Belle Dingle)

Emmerdale: Beth (Ruby Fox-Miligan)

Winner: EastEnders: Lacey Turner (Stacey Slater)

EastEnders: Kellie Bright (Linda Carter)

The best British soap

Coronation Street

Winner: EastEnders

Emmerdale

Hollyoaks

Performance

Winner: Coronation Street - David Nelson

Tony Warren Award

Winner - Emmerdale -Mike Plant