Her Emmerdale alter-ego Mandy Dingle is no stranger to a big white dress and all the trimmings. But there won’t be any wedding bells for Lisa Riley, despite her four-year engagement.
For Lisa always knew a big day would be heartbreaking without her late mother by her side.
And now, after losing her future mother-in-law – a woman who was like a second mum to her – Lisa’s decided to forget the wedding planning altogether.
Instead, she and beloved fiancé Al are planning to just keep things as they are.
“We don’t want to change anything,” says Lisa, 46.
“Both of us talk about it all the time and feel as long as we’re happy we don’t need rings on our fingers.
“We’ve lost both our mums. And when it comes to things like weddings, you do it for the other people.”
Lisa adds: “I’m never going to change my name, so really, what would be different? And I wouldn’t be able to wear a wedding band very much because I’ve always got Mandy’s jewellery on.
“Plus, I’ve always said I’m not the kind of girl who wants a big flouncy day with a horse and carriage.”
The heartbreaking reason for the couple deciding to forego marriage makes Lisa’s current storyline on the soap especially poignant.
Al’s mum, known affectionately to Lisa as “Nana”, died of cancer earlier this year aged 79. And just last month, Lisa marked the 10th anniversary of losing her mum Cath to breast cancer.
Now her character Mandy, is coping with aunt Faith Dingle’s terminal breast cancer diagnosis that will see the Emmerdale favourite, played by Sally Dexter, going into palliative care as the story comes to a climax during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
It’s particularly struck a chord with Lisa. She says: “Emmerdale have been working with the charity I’m an ambassador for, Breast Cancer Now, they’re helping with advice for Sally as well.
“There’s a storyline going on soon, where I think my fellow cast members saw me go a bit insular. I can’t give much away, but I thought Sally nailed exactly what happens in palliative care, and I’ve seen that for real.
“We are doing what Faith is going through complete justice. I can’t shout from the rooftop enough how important it is for women to check, so this could end up saving people’s lives.”
Lisa previously admitted she had gone back to the Emmerdale set too soon after Nana’s passing, after working for four days before the funeral. She stresses it was her choice to do so, but soon realised she needed to take some time off.
Lisa says: “Work were phenomenal. They gave me so much leave and couldn’t have been more incredible in how they dealt with me.
“They knew that I went through personal trauma seeing somebody I loved like a mother going through a hell of a lot with her treatment.
“Being me, I came back to work four days between her passing and the funeral, and I shouldn’t have. I would go to do a take and everybody could see I’d been crying.
“Playing Mandy is so full on, I can’t be upset doing it. So after the funeral the executives gave me the time off.
“It wasn’t just a case of what I’m going through but I had to be there for Al as well, as he needed my support.”
Lisa has kept the 52-year-old musician out of the limelight since they first met through mutual friends in 2014. It was four years before they were pictured together and even now, she never gives her American fiance’s full name in public. But behind the scenes, she and Al have the type of happy relationship, Mandy Dingle would crave.
Lisa first appeared on screen as the no-nonsense, leopard-print-loving Mandy in 1995, before leaving the village in 2001 after unsuccessfully trying to win back former husband Paddy ( Dominic Brunt ).
As one of the Dales’ most iconic – and comedic – characters, fans were delighted when she returned in 2019. But the promised fireworks for the soap’s upcoming 50th anniversary has left them fearing which of the cast may be axed.
Show execs have teased a massive storm that will wreck the village, a possible murder on the cards, and a major character potentially facing life in jail.
But Mandy fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Lisa is here to stay.
“One of the main reasons why I came back to Emmerdale was because career-wise, I’ve done everything I’ve needed to do,” she says.
“I will be here for a while. The only thing I haven’t done is a period drama, but I’m sure the writers will have Mandy in a corset one of these days.
“Wouldn’t Dingleton be a fabulous place to live!
“You can’t be bored playing Mandy, and that’s a fact.
“We’ve just started filming for the anniversary and it’s very exciting. I can’t give much away, but my script has teardrops all over it, which tells you all you need to know.”
The month-long special episodes will also see the return of much-loved character Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) after he left last December.
“It’s going to be brilliant,” says Lisa. “It’s Aaron, Mandy and Paddy all together and they’re going to be very integral to two big storylines.”
While away from Emmerdale, Lisa went on to have a lead role in the Kay Mellor-penned Fat Friends, starred in the BAFTA award-winning BBC One drama Three Girls and came fifth in the 2012 series of Strictly.
Her close pal Kym Marsh has just been confirmed to appear on the latter this year, and Lisa has been passing on the tips for success her mum gave her.
“I did Strictly shortly after Mum passed away, but she gave me the best advice ever which was, ‘Darling, just be you’. I said to Kym she has to just be herself. I’m crossing everything that she gets Giovanni Pernice as a partner, because I know and know they’d get on like a house on fire.”
This month also marks another landmark for Lisa – her seventh anniversary of giving up alcohol.
“I’m like Cinderella these days – always home before midnight,” she says, laughing. “But I’m really proud of that. It’s the life I want to lead because I like this me, it’s so much better than the other me.
“One thing I do know for sure is that there’s no chance I could play Mandy hungover. I have to be top notch.”
- Emmerdale is on every weekday at 7.30pm. You can download catch up episodes on the ITV Hub.
