Coronation Street was Monday's most-watched soap

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Coronation Street topped Monday evening's soap ratings (July 22) as Hayley Cropper received her cancer diagnosis, overnight figures show.



7.57m (38.9%) watched as Hayley was left shellshocked by the news at 7.30pm on ITV and 224k (1.0%) on +1. 7.47m (33.6%) returned at 8.30pm and 308k (1.5%) on +1 as Hayley confided in Carla, Roy and Sylvia.

EastEnders brought in 6.74m (32.5%) at 8pm on BBC One as Jean made her confession to Ian, while BBC Three's repeat screening secured 401k (2.5%) at 10.30pm.

Emmerdale claimed 6.06m (34.6%) at 7pm on ITV and 177k (0.9%) on +1 as Gennie tried to warn Chas about Cameron's infidelity.

Hollyoaks had 924k (5.5%) at 6.30pm on Channel 4 as Jim was revealed as Doctor Browning's stalker, while E4's first look had 531k (3.0%) at 7pm and 140k (0.7%) on +1.

Over on Channel 5, Neighbours entertained 678k (10.4%) at 1.45pm and 851k (6.7%) at 5.30pm, while Home and Away grabbed 218k (3.1%) at 1.15pm, 572k (3.7%) at 6pm and 412k (2.5%) for 5*'s first look at 6.30pm.

Elsewhere, Doctors returned from its summer break with 1.24m (18.8%) at 1.45pm on BBC One.

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'Coronation Street' star: 'Hayley cancer plot response is incredible'



Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh has said that she is delighted with the viewer response to Hayley Cropper's cancer storyline.

The actress's popular character was diagnosed with stage two pancreatic cancer in Monday night's double bill (July 22), marking the beginning of an emotional exit plot.

Speaking live on ITV's Lorraine today (July 24), Hesmondhalgh commented: "The response to it has been incredible, actually. It's been overwhelming - the number of people who have got in touch and said that it brought back memories of the diagnosis, or that it had brought back memories of losing someone. It's been very powerful, I think, so I'm very proud."

Discussing the impact on Hayley and her partner Roy, she continued: "It's very, very true to them and I think this story really honours them.

"It's been a bit of an offbeat love story from the beginning, and this hasn't changed that at all. I don't want people to think that it's going to be all tears and heartache. Of course there will be some of that, but it's very Roy and Hayley - it's very true to them."

Hesmondhalgh is hoping that Hayley's story will have a big impact by raising awareness of pancreatic cancer.

"It's a very unknown cancer and gets so little funding, and so little awareness around it, but it affects so many people," she explained. "I feel really, really honoured to be part of this now. I'm hoping to really change things for the better there.

"If more people know about it and we can get a bit of a campaign going, I want this to be Hayley's legacy - to get more funding for pancreatic cancer."

She added: "I think we pretty much know how the story is going to pan out. At this point in the story there's hope. She's not been told that there's no hope yet, but I think when I told the bosses here at Corrie that I wanted to leave, I knew which way it would go. Why would Hayley ever leave Roy apart from if it was a circumstance outside her control?"

Coronation Street continues tonight at 7.30pm on ITV.