JANE McDonald has broken her silence after it was announced that she will replace Phillip Schofield as host of the British Soap Awards this weekend.
The Sun exclusively revealed earlier today that BAFTA Award winning TV star Jane, 60, will be stepping in to host the awards bash on Saturday.
It comes after Phil, 61, announced last week that he had quit ITV entirely and the award show, which he has hosted since 2006.
Jane took to social media to share her excitement after landing the presenting role.
She told fans: "I'm so excited to be this years host for The British Soap Awards!!
"I LOVE my soaps, so this is just a dream come true.
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"I can’t wait to see all our wonderful soap nominees and celebrate all their hard work with them – roll on the awards! Tuesday, 8pm, ITV & ITVX."
Many fans were delighted with the news and flooded the comment section.
One wrote: "That’s simply just the best news ever, congratulations Jane. Wow I’m definitely not going to miss that."
"Oh Jane you are the perfect choice; I seriously can’t wait," a second echoed.
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A third posted: "Great news that someone that loves soaps is going to do it."
Another added: "Congratulations! This will be so amazing."
Last week Phillip made the shock decision to quit the awards show after it was revealed he had an affair with a much younger male ITV employee – just a week after he was dropped from This Morning.
The British Soap Awards is due to take place in Manchester on June 3rd.
They have now taken the decision to delete any mention of Phil from their official website.
Last week Phillip had assured fans he would still be hosting the ceremony but has made a dramatic U-turn after admitting to an affair while he was still married.
With the British Soap Awards thrown into chaos it was confirmed that the ceremony would still go ahead.
An insider at ITV said: "The British Soap Awards will take place next Saturday as planned.
The source added: "We will make further announcements in due course."
Phil's exit was confirmed after weeks of intense speculation about his future and a feud with co-host Holly Willoughby, 42 — as an insider revealed the row was even putting off guests from appearing with them.
It comes after his brother Tim Schofield was jailed after being found guilty of "emotionally blackmailing" a teen into sex acts and forcing him to watch porn.
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And days later, Phillip, the host of 21 years had been in an office with show chief Martin Frizzell and told his contract, due to end this summer, was not being renewed.
Last weekend it was revealed that Phillip had been dropped by his agent after the affair with the male ITV employee was exposed, which was not illegal.
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