Jacqueline Jossa wants EastEnders co-star to win NTA – despite being nominated

Jacqueline Jossa has admitted she would be absolutely fine if she loses at the upcoming National Television Awards - and she's even encouraging fans to vote for her fellow nominee instead of her.

The 32-year-old soap star was 19 when she won her first ever NTA for her role as Lauren Branning - the character she has played on the BBC show for more than 15 years. The 2025 National Television Awards will take place at the O2 in London on Wednesday 10th September.

And Jacqueline is among the stars up for a gong. She is nominated Serial Drama Performance category alongside fellow EastEnders star Steve MacFadden, 66 - who has played Phil Mitchell on the BBC soap since 1990.

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Emmerdale's Eden Taylor-Draper, 27, who has played Belle Dingle since 2005, and Coronation Street's Jack P Shepherd, 37, and Sue Devaney, 58, who have played David Platt since 2000 and Debbie Webster since 1984, respectively, are also nominated.

But in Jacqueline's eyes, there can be only one winner: Steve. She told The Sun on Sunday: “There is no rivalry between Steve and I whatsoever, I surrender to him.

"I’ve always looked up to Steve, and I feel like he really deserves it. I’ll be chuffed if he wins — there is no competition between us. I’ve not once thought about winning at all. I think it’s Steve’s night, and we’ll be celebrating either way."

She added: "I’ll be celebrating by going, as to even be nominated is amazing, and we get to all be together."

Jacqueline won the Best Newcomer award when she attended the ceremony in 2012, and went on to say she is "shocked" to find herself nominated for her role all these years later.

She first played Lauren Branning from 2010 until 2018. She quit the show and starred on ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and also went on to enjoy lucrative deals with fast fashion brands.

She returned to the soap in 2022 and has continued to feature in episodes ever since. Away from her TV role, however, Jacqueline has drawn attention for her dramatic love life.

She has been in a relationship with former The Only Way Is Essex star Dan Osborne since 2013, and they went on to welcome two children together and got married in 2017 at Delamere Manor in Cheshire.

Their marriage has been rocked by reports of near breakups, with the couple said to have split earlier this year. However, they reportedly went on a 'make or break' holiday to Mexico in April and have remained together since they returned home.

A fan who saw them on the trip told the Daily Mail at the time: "Jacqueline was lovely — as was Dan. I recognised her from EastEnders.

"They both seemed really nice and down to earth. I thought they might not want to talk while on holiday, but they were brilliant."

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