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Emmerdale will broadcast a live episode for its 40th anniversary, it has been confirmed.

The special broadcast, which is a first for the soap, will air in October to celebrate the ITV1 show’s milestone.

Show stars Jason Merrells and Gaynor Faye revealed the news at the British Soap Awards, with Merrells telling Digital Spy:

"We've got the 40th anniversary of the show [coming up], it's got a live ep so everybody's positive about that.

"It should be pretty good, the stories are getting stronger and everything's hotting up."

Faye added:

"None of us actually know whether we're involved or not… I think they're going to try and involve everybody because it's such a celebration and such an achievement to get to the 40th year.

"So fingers crossed everybody will be involved."

In a statement, an Emmerdale spokesperson backed up the soap stars' claims, saying:

"In celebration of its 40th birthday, Emmerdale will be going live for the first time for an episode in October.

"Series producer Stuart Blackburn has already confirmed that the anniversary will be a week long celebration of 'must see TV featuring two weddings, one of which will be the most unexpected we have ever seen, plus the birth of two babies'.

"Further highlights and the date and length of the episode will be announced on a separate occasion."