Peter Fincham, the channel’s Director of Television before current boss Kevin Lygo, has revealed he believes that the soap could soon be moving to Manchester.

He has predicted that the recent devastating cuts to daytime television, and the loss of hundreds of jobs, would lead to executives looking at similar measures with their two biggest soaps, which are made in locations just 50 miles apart.

Talking on The TV Podcast, Peter said: “You’ve got Coronation Street being made in Manchester, Emmerdale in Leeds.

“Could you imagine, rather like the daytime consolidation, that ITV will decide to have them both made in the same place under one umbrella? Big savings.

“You still keep Emmerdale set in Yorkshire, but it could be made in Manchester and Salford, which is a bigger hub for ITV.

“I don’t think that’s inconceivable — it might be being planned as we speak.”

Merging the two shows in any way once seemed unthinkable, but recently ITV announced that it would air an episode next year where the soaps would have a joint storyline.

The news came around the same time ITV announced a merger of production between Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women, with the expected loss of more than 200 jobs behind the scenes.

Currently, Emmerdale is made just north of Leeds while Coronation Street is largely filmed at MediaCity in Salford, having previously been at the Granada Studios in Manchester for decades.

Peter continued: “The new hub for Coronation Street in Salford, it cost many, many millions of pounds and it was better facilities for all the people who worked on it in the old place in the middle of Manchester.”

A spokesperson for ITV hit back at Peter’s suggestion of a soap filming merge, saying: “ITV has no plans to merge the productions of Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

“Both are uniquely set in Manchester and Leeds, and that production model will continue for the long term. It’s pure speculation to say otherwise.”

ELLA RAE WISE was all smiles as she stepped out to film The Only Way Is Essex in Portugal.

The reality star will come face to face with ex-boyfriend Dan Edgar in the upcoming series, airing on ITVX, which marks the reality show’s 15th anniversary with a trip abroad.

While the last series saw Ella and Dan become “official” ahead of her stint on Celebrity Big Brother, it was revealed in April the two had split “amicably”.

But that will be put to the test as the cast were seen gathering poolside in the Algarve.

Joining Ella were Sammy Root and Roman Hackett, who enjoyed a ball game as Chloe Meadows sipped on a drink.

Sophie Kasaei looked cosy with her boyfriend Jordan Brook while Junaid Ahmed step-ped out hand in hand with boyfriend Joe Blackman.

Others including Elma Pazar, Harry Derbridge, Amber Turner, Dani Imbert and Amy Childs are also on the trip.

SHERI’S DRAMA A SAFE BET

MICHAEL SOCHA and Sheridan Smith play two casino workers on the run from a local gangster, and the police, in upcoming drama The Cage.

A first look at the new series, which will air on BBC One and iPlayer, sees the duo as the show’s Matty and Leanne, dressed for their job at a gambling mecca in Liverpool.

After it is discovered they have both been stealing from the business, the pair are on a terrifying collision course.

For the five-parter, the actors will be joined by House Of The Dragon’s Barry Sloane, Dope Girls’ Geraldine James, Extraordinary’s Shaun Mason and The Power Of Parker star Louis Emerick in the high-stakes, high-energy series.

DEATH Valley will return for a second series.

The BBC murder mystery comedy drama, which stars Timothy Spall and Gwyneth Keyworth as unlikely crime-solving partners, is set to start filming again this autumn in Wales.

The first series is currently airing on BBC One on Sunday evenings.

RICHARD: MY PAST SO RACY

BEING a man of the cloth doesn’t mean that Reverend Richard Coles has forgotten all about his rock ’n’ roll past in the Eighties.

If anything, the I’m A Celebrity star is still haunted by the bad decisions from his youth as a member of band The Communards.

Richard told Rylan on his How To Be In Love podcast: “After the band reached its highest point, and we were taking a break, that was when sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll came together for me, and I went to Ibiza.

“There was one summer I went with a bunch of people, and we took ecstasy and acid, everything really, and got barred from Avis car rental for life because we got through a lot of vehicles.

“Then I bought a speed boat, and I don’t know where it is, but I did buy a speed boat.”

BRUVS’ LEAP OF FAITH

THE contestants have now been whittled down to four pairs for tonight’s tense finale of Race Across The World.

Melvyn and Brian, Caroline and Tom, Elizabeth and Letitia and Fin and Sioned will battle it out to win the BBC One contest.

But just because things are hotting up, and requiring more physical energy than ever, it doesn’t mean the show’s oldest ever contestants, brothers Melvyn and Brian, are going to struggle.

Melvyn joked: “I’m 66 but that doesn’t mean I can’t do a parachute jump or a bungee jump!

“The wife wouldn’t be happy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do it – don’t think you’re too old to do stuff..”

Brian added: “We knew going into the race it would be tough and we would probably be out of our comfort zone.

“But, it’s no surprise to me, I always knew that we could do it.”

Race Across The World airs at 9pm tonight.