They may not get the fame, fortune or even respect afforded to actors in other genres, but soap stars are arguably the hardest working performers in the industry.
Up at the crack of dawn until the sun sets, five days a week all year round - their non-stop schedules to keep the nation entertained, even through another tough pandemic year, is second to none.
And as 2021 comes to a close, some of the stars from our favourite soaps even stepped things up a few notches by clocking in even more than usual to appear on our screens.
From ITV's Coronation Street alone, some actors have appeared in over 140 episodes, with the longest-serving cast members appearances over the years going into the thousands.
But which of the UK's soap stars work the hardest? We take a look at who have officially bagged that title for 2021.
Alan Halsall
Alan is one of three soap stars tied for the hardest working title of the year. Alan, 39, who has played the part of Tyrone Dobbs on Coronation Street for over 20 years, has been in around 150 episodes, so far this year.
Since he started the show, he's averaged close to 160 a year.
Only one of those years, back in 2012 where he was in 155 episodes in total, has seen his co-star Sally Ann Matthews appear in more episodes.
This year, Sally Ann's total appearances are 127, so far.
Lucy Pargeter
Two stars of Emmerdale have also appeared in 150 episodes so far this year, including Lucy Pargeter who plays Chas Dingle.
Lucy has played the character for just under 20 years, and has had two maternity leave breaks over that period.
While the amount of episodes the 44-year-old has appeared in this year have been impressive, it's still far off the number of episodes she was in back in 2011, which was an astounding 211.
Rosie Bentham
Another Emmerdale star tied with Lucy on 150 episodes is Rosie Bentham, who plays Gabby Thomas.
Rosie, 20, joined the cast in of the ITV soap in 2016. This year, Emmerdale has placed more of a focus on the younger cast members, with Gabby at front and centre of the most dramatic storylines of this year.
Sally Carman
Sally plays Abi Frank in Corrie has appeared in roughly 137 episodes.
Sally, whose character recently confirmed she is pregnant in a shock storyline, appeared this many times despite having to isolate after falling ill with Covid-19 back in September.
The 46-year-old was off work for a month after being stricken with the virus, so vital Corrie scenes showing her character Abi at Seb Franklin’s dramatic courtroom murder trial were swiftly filmed and added after she returned.
Lawrence Robb
Lawrence, who plays Emmerdale's Mackenzie Boyd rounds off the top five at 135 episodes so far in 2021.
Lawrence joined the cast back in 2020 as Moira Dingle's (Natalie J Robb) younger brother and has been stirring up drama ever since.
His character has seen recent development as going from schemer to sometimes nice guy, which has kept him a fan favourite accounting for his plentiful screen time.
While Corrie and Emmerdale actors are the hardest working soap stars, with Sally Ann Matthews rounding off the top ten with 127 episodes, of a list of 100 actors compiled by betting site OLBG, hit soap EastEnders does make an appearance at number 15 with Danny Dyer.
The actor has appeared in around 120 episodes this year, making him the hardest working star on the BBC 1 soap.
His co-stars Steve McFadden who plays Phil Mitchell and Kellie Bright in the role of Linda Carter, are at 29 and 30 111, and 110 respectively.
When it comes to hardest working soap stars of all time, Coronation Street leads the way with the likes of Rita Sullivan and Sally Webster featuring in over 3,000 episodes!
EastEnders' heavyweights, Ian Beale and Phil Mitchell, managed to bag themselves a place in the top 10, featuring in over 3,300 episodes.
