Oh dear! It all goes pear shaped as boozy 'stars' let their hair down at the 2009 British Soap Awards after-party

The starlets may have looked composed and preened as they arrived at last night's British Soap Awards, but after one too many cocktails it was a decidedly different story by the end of the night.

After the ceremony most of soap's finest headed to London's Wellington Club where they partied until 3am and were pictured looking seriously worse for wear.

After the bash an unsteady on her feet Gemma Bissix suffered a humiliating fall as she alighted her car at the end of the evening.

The Hollyoaks star had to be helped up by a friend who then guided her to her nearby hotel room.

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On her knees: Hollyoaks star Gemma Bissix dress gets all tangled up with her shoes as she steps out of her car after a night of partying at the Wellington Club

Bounced back: A smiling Gemma soon regains her composure with a little help from a friend

'I'm a lady': Hollyoaks actress Natalie Emmanuel (L) looks worse-for-wear as she leaves the British Soap Awards After Party with a friend

Unsteady: Soap star Nick Pickard needs to be propped up by Gemma at the after party

Meanwhile, her fellow soap star Natalie Emmanuel looked was pictured looking bleary-eyed and far from graceful in the back of her taxi as she left the club with a friend.

The stars had truly let their hair down and lost their inhibitions once they hit the Wellington Club.They swigged on copious amounts of champagne cocktails throughout the night and became rowdy on the dancefloor.

This was in stark contrast to earlier when they were on their best behaviour and remained composed as they posed for photographers on the red carpet.

It was like an explosion of Quality Street as dresses in shades of pink, orange, yellow, green and blue all fought for attention against the backdrop of the red carpet.

Short and skimpy: Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh squeezed into a turquoise mini dress as she attended the 2009 British Soap Awards in London

Blue too: But Kym wasn't the only actress in blue, with her fellow Corrie castmates Vicky Binns and Samia Smith, both 26, picking the shade

And with their bleached styled hair, fake tans, and perfect make-up the actresses lived up to expectation as they posed for photographers.

As for the awards themselves? Well, they were almost a sideshow compared to the daring fashions on show.

EastEnders scooped the top award for best soap for the second year running - scooping a total of seven awards, one more than its closest rival Coronation Street.

Sexiest female went to Michelle Keegan, Coronation Street's Tina McIntyre, while Katherine Kelly, who plays Becky Granger picked up best actress.

Flash of colour: Hollyoaks beauties Emma Rigby and Gemma Merna were among the first to arrive at tonight's British Soap Awards 2009

EastEnders Robert Kazinsky, who plays Sean Slater, winning best actor and Scott Maslen, who plays Jack Branning, the sexiest male award.

Channel 4's youth soap Hollyoaks left empty-handed.

However, had awards been handed out for effort on the night the show surely would have triumphed.

Actress Emma Rigby, 19, chose a floor-length bright pink strapless dress, which fell from below her bust. Her colleague Gemma Merna, 25, was equally eye-catching in a floor length draped orange dress, which hung from a chain around her neck.

Bright and bubbly: Hollyoaks actresses Zoe Lister and Ashley Slanina-Davies,

Hollyoaks actresses Zoe Lister, 27, sparkled in a yellow asymetrical dress while Ashley Slanina-Davies,19, chose a bright blue prom dress, with black heels and clutch.

Meanwhile Coronation Street's cast seemed to have agreed on a theme - with Kym Marsh, Vicky Binns and Samia Smith all choosing shades of blue for their dresses.

But despite the similar shades their dresses couldn't have been more different - with Kym's minidress the shortest of the lot.

Floor-length and fabulous: Jennifer Metcalfe and Gemma Bissix

Old-school gowns: Hollyoaks star Loui Batley, 22 and Emmerdale's Sammy Winward, 23

The 32-year-old actress smiled for the cameras and appeared to have put her recent troubles behind her in the attention-grabbing frock, which barely covered herlegs.

Kym and her partner Jamie Lomas were left heartbroken after losing their son Archie Jay Lomas in February after he was born prematurely.

Joining Kym was castmate Vicky, 26, whose gown was floor-length and satin, with a panel of decorative design around the chest area.

Short and strapless: Saira Choudhry and Hollyoaks' Hollie-Jay Bowes

Prom frocks: EastEnders' Kara Tointon and Emmerdales' Jenna Louise Coleman

Samia, 26, instead chose a vintage look calf-length strappy dress with purple suede peeptoe shoes and a purple and yellow clutch.

Prom frocks were also a popular choice, with Hollyoaks' Hollie-Jay Bowes, 20, choosing a black and white version to match her bleached hair.

EastEnders' Kara Tointon, 25 and Emmerdales' Jenna Louise Coleman, 23 also picked the prom look, while Hollyoaks actress Saira Choudhry made the look her own in a ruffled dress.

In comparison to some of her co-stars veteran actress Barbara Windsor was completely covered up in her maxi dress. She shared a passionate kiss with her husband of nine years Scott Mitchell - who is 26 years her junior.

Barbara Windsor and husband Scott Mitchell

Still in love: Barbara Windsor shares the limelight with husband of nine-years Scott Mitchell

Windsor was presented with the lifetime achievement award by her onscreen son, EastEnders' Steve McFadden.

'This is extra special, the Soap Awards, because its our show,' Windsor said, before picking up her award.

'We all know what we go through, we're doing about eight episodes at the same time, all across each other, and they are long hours.'

But she added: 'I love it, I love the whole process of this.'

Speaking on the red carpet outside BBC Television Centre, McFadden said: 'It's the best soap: it's well written, well acted, the camera team are fantastic.

'We've got high production values, I won't say, 'No expense spared,' but you don't move on until you've nailed the scene and that's really important.'