SOAP SHOCK: Corrie’s Sally Carman Breaks Silence on Show’s Future Amid ITV Cuts

Sally Carman opened up on the future of soaps (Image: ITV)

Coronation Street star Sally Carman has given her impression of the future of soaps as ITV faces huge cuts next year. The network is slashing runtimes for both Corrie and Emmerdale, reducing hour-long episodes to 30 minutes and increasing the amount of “digestible” episodes per week. ITV has reportedly offered a number of employees voluntary redundancy packages as a result of the cuts.

Speaking on the red carpet of the Corriedale premiere, in which two soaps are set to collide in January 2026, Sally – who plays Abi Webster on the cobbles – seemed hopeful for the future, sharing exclusively with Express.co.uk: “I think because TV is watched differently now, it’ll just be the way it’s aired. That’s kind of not our department, but I guess it will just shift and change until it finds its natural position.

“Whatever that looks like, it will be fine. As long as we’re on air, in whatever form, that’s all that matters. I think it’s such an institution and there’s still such a strong fanbase that it will survive whatever the future of TV looks like, and we just have to move with it and make it work.”

Sally attended the Corriedale premiere this week (Image: Getty)

Meanwhile, Emmerdale’s Charity Dingle star Emma Atkins told us what she thinks soaps need to do to boost audience figures going into 2026.

She said: “I think we need to just continue telling very relatable, human storylines that are very current. I think mental health is a big one at the moment because I think we have an epidemic of that, and you speak to everyone – family, friends, somebody is connected to someone who is really struggling.

“So I think we definitely have to touch on that in storylines that people can connect to. As soon as you’ve got an audience member that’s connected, you’ve got the longevity. They’ll stick with it.”

Emmerdale star Emma Atkins shared her thoughts for the future (Image: Getty)

And it seems Corriedale will give both soaps a much-needed audience injection, as Emma said: “It’s never been done before – two iconic British soaps colliding in a way that’s just never been done. When we got the script and realised what the colliding would be, we were like, ‘Holy moly, this is going to be so cool. The audience are going to love it’.

“I always thought that those audience members who don’t watch one or the other, whichever they do watch, they’ll see other characters and it’ll maybe pique their interest to maybe dip into that soap. So it’s a win-win for ITV, and it’s made me want to watch Corrie more.”