A New Journey Beyond Emmerdale

Emmerdale favourite Lisa Riley is stepping away from the Dales and heading into the jungle for this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! The actress, who has played Mandy Dingle since 1995, remains one of the most beloved stars on the ITV soap. Mandy’s fierce humour and deep compassion have seen her through powerful storylines, including her turbulent romance with Paddy Kirk and raising her adopted son, Vinny, while enduring abuse from his father, Paul Ashdale.

But while Mandy has weathered storms on screen, Lisa’s real-life journey has carried its own emotional challenges.

A Painful Path to Better Health

Away from Emmerdale, Lisa transformed her health by losing an incredible 12 stone over 18 months. She adopted a sustainable approach, cutting processed foods and committing to regular exercise. The change was dramatic. She went from a size 28 to a size 12. Yet, the process came with severe physical and emotional difficulties.

Loose skin caused constant pain, weighing over a stone and a half. Lisa described how it rubbed, became sore, and made movement uncomfortable. “Food becomes the enemy, and you have to move,” she said. “But the movement was becoming a severe problem. It really hurt.”

In her 2017 documentary, Lisa Riley’s Baggy Body Club, she confessed that she felt “revolted” by her reflection, despite her weight loss. Eventually, she chose to have surgery to remove the excess skin. The night before the procedure, she feared the worst. “I was thinking that in 11 hours, I could be dead. I might not wake up,” she admitted. Still, she knew staying unhappy was not an option.

She insisted the procedure did not feel cosmetic, saying: “I have corrected what I had done to myself.”

Grief That Changed Everything

Lisa also continues to carry the heartbreak of losing her mother, Cath, to secondary breast cancer in 2012. Lisa was 36. Her mother was just 58. “She was more than my mother. She was my best friend,” she said. “All whoosh, gone overnight.”

That loss still affects major decisions in her life.

Why Lisa Won’t Get Married

Lisa has been with her partner, Al, for more than 11 years, but she cannot face a wedding day without her mum. “We’re already married, but not married,” she said. “I truly couldn’t cope with the big day without my mum by my side.”

Al also lost his mother, and the couple feel no pressure to change what already works. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” she added.

As Lisa enters the jungle, fans are cheering her on, knowing how much strength it took to become the woman she is today.