Starlet Lucy dazzles but misses award

The Coronation Street star was up for the best actress category for her portrayal of troubled teenager Bethany Platt – just two years after making her professional debut.

The harrowing child sexual exploitation storyline which she’s been caught up with was up for being named best plot.

But both categories saw the Weatherfield soap miss out to its Yorkshire rivals Emmerdale, with Ashley’s dementia plot and actress Charlotte Bellamy, who play’s Ashley’s wife Laurel, taking the gongs.

Twenty one-year-old Lucy, from Cleveleys, dazzled in a nude toned gown from Cheshire and Knightsbridge-based Emma Beaumont designs.

A former Hodgson Academy and Blackpool Sixth Form College student, Lucy is represented by Scream Management, the casting agency branch of Blackpool-based Scream Theatre School.

Agent Jessica Bell said: “We are so proud of Lucy, and she’s a winner to us just for making it on to the shortlist.

“It’s been unfortunate timing, her storyline is still running and will be for a while yet, so audiences haven’t seen where it’s going yet.”

Lucy’s co-star Chris Harper, who plays her wicked groomer and so-called fiance Nathan, has assured fans his character will get his comeuppance and will be sent to jail.

But that’s not before things get much worse for Bethany, and viewers will soon see her sold abroad for sex in a devastating turn, when she runs away with Nathan.

The British Soap Awards took place on Saturday at The Lowry in Salford and were broadcast on ITV on Tuesday.