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THE best soap actor 'of all time' has been revealed - as a Coronation Street star beats rival soap EastEnders.

Over the decades Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and EastEnders have produced dozens of fan-favourite characters.

Jack P. Shepherd, actor in Coronation Street, leaning against a brick wall.
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Jack P Shepherd is the best soap actor according to new statistics based on Google searchesCredit: ITV
John Middleton preparing to leave the Emmerdale show after more than 20 years.
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John Middleton also ranks on the listCredit: ITV Handout
Ross Kemp, portraying Grant Mitchell, looks around the Square.
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Despite his highly anticipated return to EastEnders, Ross Kemp is at the bottom of the leader boardCredit: handout

But now the best star has apparently been revealed - and they're much younger than what you'd expect.

Coming out on top is Corrie's Jack P Shepherd, who has played David Platt on the cobbles since 1990.

To date Jack has amassed a number of gongs, with his first being Villain of the Year in 2008 at the Soap Awards. He also scooped Best Actor in 2018.

Betway has analysed Google searches for soap stars and the 37-year-old comes out on top with a whopping 25,418,077 hits.

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In second place is EastEnders star Perry Fenwick, who plays Billy Mitchell.

Although he had more searches than Jack, he had a lower 'sentiment' score with audiences, which is judged out of 100 and takes into account positive and negative feedback from fans.

In third place is another Walford character - Adam Woodyatt for his role as Ian Beale.

Steve McFadden - who is one of EastEnders' longest-serving cast members - placed third with 20.2 million searches.

The Phil Mitchell star first joined 34 years ago and has been involved in high-profile roles, with the latest seeing him tackle mental health and depression.

While EastEnders takes the three spots after Corrie, the ITV soap ranks again in fifth place with Gray O'Brien.

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The soap hunk played the role of Carla Connor's business partner Tony Gordon, appearing between 2007 and 2010.

Emmerdale finally ranks in sixth place with John Middleton's character Ashley Jones clocking up over 18 million searches.

Meanwhile, Martin Kemp comes in eight place, Simon Gregson in 10th and Jamie Lomas in 11th.

At the bottom of the table, and ahead of his comeback to EastEnders, is Ross Kemp.

Top soap stars ranked

  1. Jack P Shepherd
  2. Perry Fenwick
  3. Adam Woodyatt
  4. Steve McFadden
  5. Gray O'Brien
  6. John Middleton
  7. Brian Capron
  8. Martin Kemp
  9. Joe Absolom
  10. Simon Gregson
  11. Jamie Lomas
  12. Ross Kemp

Source: Betway

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